Analyzing Ping An Insurance Co. of China (OTCMKTS:PNGAY) and Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN)

Ping An Insurance Co. of China (OTCMKTS:PNGAY) and Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Ping An Insurance Co. of China and Horace Mann Educators, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ping An Insurance Co. of China	0	0	0	1	4.00
Horace Mann Educators	0	3	2	1	2.67

Horace Mann Educators has a consensus price target of $46.75, indicating a potential upside of 2.41%. Given Horace Mann Educators’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Horace Mann Educators is more favorable than Ping An Insurance Co. of China.

Dividends

Ping An Insurance Co. of China pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Horace Mann Educators pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Ping An Insurance Co. of China pays out 20.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Horace Mann Educators pays out 35.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Horace Mann Educators has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Horace Mann Educators is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ping An Insurance Co. of China and Horace Mann Educators”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ping An Insurance Co. of China	$158.77 billion	0.85	$17.61 billion	$2.13	6.99
Horace Mann Educators	$1.60 billion	1.16	$102.80 million	$3.95	11.56

Ping An Insurance Co. of China has higher revenue and earnings than Horace Mann Educators. Ping An Insurance Co. of China is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Horace Mann Educators, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Ping An Insurance Co. of China shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.3% of Horace Mann Educators shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Ping An Insurance Co. of China shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Horace Mann Educators shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Ping An Insurance Co. of China and Horace Mann Educators’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ping An Insurance Co. of China	11.89%	10.60%	1.07%
Horace Mann Educators	8.49%	14.23%	1.29%

Volatility & Risk

Ping An Insurance Co. of China has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horace Mann Educators has a beta of 0.21, meaning that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Horace Mann Educators beats Ping An Insurance Co. of China on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ping An Insurance Co. of China

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. provides financial products and services for insurance, banking, asset management, and technology businesses in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through Life and Health Insurance; Property and Casualty Insurance; Banking; Asset Management; and Technology segments. Its Life and Health Insurance segment offers term, whole-life, endowment, annuity, investment-linked, universal life, and health care and medical insurance to individual and corporate customers. The company's Property and Casualty Insurance segment provides auto, non-auto, and accident and health insurance to individual and corporate customers. Its Banking segment undertakes loan and intermediary businesses with corporate and retail customers; and offers wealth management and credit card services to individual customers. The company's Asset Management segment provides trust products services, brokerage services, trading services, investment banking services, investment management, finance lease, and other asset management services. Its Technology segment offers financial and daily-life services through internet platforms, such as financial transaction information service, and health care service platforms. The company also provides annuity insurance, IT and business process outsourcing, real estate investment and management, futures brokerage, project investment, currency brokerage, property agency, fund raising and distribution, real estate development and leasing, and insurance agency services. In addition, it provides factoring, equity investment, logistics and warehousing, management consulting, e-commerce, and credit information services; and operates an expressway, as well as produces and sells consumer chemicals. The company was incorporated in 1988 and is based in Shenzhen, China.

About Horace Mann Educators

Horace Mann Educators Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an insurance holding company in the United States. The company operates through Property & Casualty, Life & Retirement, and Supplemental & Group Benefits segments. Its Property & Casualty segment offers insurance products, including private passenger auto insurance, residential home insurance, and personal umbrella insurance; and provides auto coverages including liability and collision, and property coverage for homeowners and renters. The Life & Retirement segment markets tax-qualified fixed, fixed indexed, and variable annuities; and internal revenue code for educator, which allows public school employees and employees of other tax-exempt organizations, such as not-for-profit private schools, to utilize pretax income to make periodic contributions to a qualified retirement plan. The Supplemental & Group Benefits segment offers employer-sponsored products including accident, critical illness, limited-benefit fixed indemnity insurance, term life, and short-term and long-term disability, as well as worksite direct products, such as supplemental heart, cancer, disability, and accident coverage. The company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Springfield, Illinois.