Financial Review: NI (NASDAQ:NODK) vs. Primerica (NYSE:PRI)

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) and NI (NASDAQ:NODK) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

90.9% of Primerica shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.9% of NI shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Primerica shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of NI shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Primerica and NI’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Primerica	23.20%	32.45%	5.35%
NI	2.93%	3.18%	1.50%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Primerica and NI, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Primerica	0	6	3	0	2.33
NI	1	0	0	0	1.00

Primerica presently has a consensus target price of $315.57, suggesting a potential upside of 8.67%. Given Primerica’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Primerica is more favorable than NI.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Primerica and NI”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Primerica	$3.29 billion	2.72	$751.23 million	$24.90	11.66
NI	$285.05 million	1.08	-$10.41 million	$0.38	39.63

Primerica has higher revenue and earnings than NI. Primerica is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NI, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Primerica has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NI has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Primerica beats NI on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Primerica

Primerica, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services to middle-income households in the United States and Canada. The company operates in four segments: Term Life Insurance; Investment and Savings Products; Senior Health; and Corporate and Other Distributed Products. The Term Life Insurance segment underwrites individual term life insurance products. The Investment and Savings Products segment provides mutual funds and various retirement plans, managed investments, variable and fixed annuities, and fixed indexed annuities. The Senior Health segment offers segregated funds; and medicare advantage and supplement plans. The Corporate and Other Distributed Products segment provides mortgage loans; prepaid legal services that assist subscribers with legal matters, such as drafting wills, living wills and powers of attorney, trial defense, and motor vehicle-related matters; ID theft defense services; auto and homeowners' insurance; home automation solutions; and insurance products, including supplemental and accidental death, and disability insurance. It distributes and sells its products through licensed sales representatives. Primerica, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.

About NI

NI Holdings, Inc. underwrites property and casualty insurance products in the United States. Its products include private passenger auto, non-standard automobile, homeowners, farm owners, crop hail and multi-peril crop, and liability insurance policies. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. NI Holdings, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Nodak Mutual Group, Inc.