Comparing American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) & Gjensidige Forsikring ASA (OTCMKTS:GJNSY)

Gjensidige Forsikring ASA (OTCMKTS:GJNSY) and American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Gjensidige Forsikring ASA and American Financial Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gjensidige Forsikring ASA	0	0	1	0	3.00
American Financial Group	0	2	2	0	2.50

American Financial Group has a consensus price target of $135.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.51%. Given American Financial Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Financial Group is more favorable than Gjensidige Forsikring ASA.

Profitability

This table compares Gjensidige Forsikring ASA and American Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gjensidige Forsikring ASA	N/A	N/A	N/A
American Financial Group	11.03%	21.56%	2.94%

Dividends

Gjensidige Forsikring ASA pays an annual dividend of $10.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 64.6%. American Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $2.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Gjensidige Forsikring ASA pays out 122.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Financial Group pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Financial Group has increased its dividend for 18 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Gjensidige Forsikring ASA and American Financial Group’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gjensidige Forsikring ASA	N/A	N/A	N/A	$8.72	1.90
American Financial Group	$7.93 billion	1.37	$852.00 million	$10.45	12.36

American Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Gjensidige Forsikring ASA. Gjensidige Forsikring ASA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Gjensidige Forsikring ASA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of American Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.5% of American Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

American Financial Group beats Gjensidige Forsikring ASA on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gjensidige Forsikring ASA

Gjensidige Forsikring ASA engages in the provision of general insurance and pension products in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The company operates through five segments: General Insurance Private, General Insurance Commercial, General Insurance Sweden, General Insurance Baltics, and Pension. It offers motor, property, accident and health, liability, marine/transport, natural perils, agriculture, travel, leisure craft, valuables, commercial, and life insurance products. The company also provides defined contribution occupational pension schemes for businesses, which include disability pension, spouse/cohabitant pension, and child's pension products. It distributes its products through various distribution channels comprising office channel, call center, Internet, partners, and brokers to private and commercial customers. The company was founded in 1816 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Gjensidige Forsikring ASA operates as a subsidiary of GjensidigeStiftelsen.

About American Financial Group

American Financial Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company offers property and transportation insurance products, such as physical damage and liability coverage for buses and trucks, inland and ocean marine, agricultural-related products, and other commercial property and specialty transportation coverages; specialty casualty insurance, including primarily excess and surplus, executive and professional liability, general liability, umbrella and excess liability, and specialty coverage in targeted markets, as well as customized programs for small to mid-sized businesses and workers' compensation insurance; and specialty financial insurance products comprising risk management insurance programs for lending and leasing institutions, fidelity and surety products, and trade credit insurance. It sells its property and casualty insurance products through independent insurance agents and brokers. The company was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.