Globe Life (NYSE:GL) & W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Head-To-Head Comparison

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) and Globe Life (NYSE:GL) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

W.R. Berkley has a beta of 0.29, indicating that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Globe Life has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

68.8% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.6% of Globe Life shares are held by institutional investors. 25.1% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Globe Life shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

W.R. Berkley pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Globe Life pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.R. Berkley pays out 8.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Globe Life pays out 8.8% 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. W.R. Berkley has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years and Globe Life has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares W.R. Berkley and Globe Life’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W.R. Berkley	12.94%	19.44%	4.28%
Globe Life	19.58%	20.52%	3.96%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for W.R. Berkley and Globe Life, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W.R. Berkley	6	9	3	0	1.83
Globe Life	0	2	8	1	2.91

W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus price target of $70.94, suggesting a potential upside of 4.18%. Globe Life has a consensus price target of $191.67, suggesting a potential upside of 9.82%. Given Globe Life’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Globe Life is more favorable than W.R. Berkley.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares W.R. Berkley and Globe Life”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W.R. Berkley	$14.92 billion	1.69	$1.78 billion	$4.87	13.98
Globe Life	$6.18 billion	2.17	$1.16 billion	$15.06	11.59

W.R. Berkley has higher revenue and earnings than Globe Life. Globe Life is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.R. Berkley, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Globe Life beats W.R. Berkley on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines. This segment also provides accident and health insurance and reinsurance products; insurance for commercial risks; casualty and specialty environmental products; specialized insurance coverages for fine arts and jewelry exposures; excess liability and inland marine coverage for small to medium-sized insureds; and commercial general liability, umbrella, professional liability, directors and officers, commercial property, and surety products, as well as products for technology, and life sciences and travel industries. In addition, this segment offers cyber risk solutions; crime and fidelity insurance products; medical professional coverages; workers' compensation insurance products; general insurance; personal lines insurance solutions, including home, condo/co-op, auto, and collectibles; automobile, law enforcement, public officials and educator's legal, and employment practices liability, as well as incidental medical and property and crime insurance products; at-risk and alternative risk insurance program management services; professional liability; energy and marine risks; and provides insurance products to the Lloyd's marketplace. The Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment provides treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions; property and casualty reinsurance; facultative reinsurance products include automatic, semi-automatic and individual risk assumed reinsurance; and turnkey products such as cyber, employment practices liability insurance, liquor liability insurance and violent events. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

About Globe Life

Globe Life Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various life and supplemental health insurance products, and annuities to lower middle- and middle-income families in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Supplemental Health Insurance, Annuities, and Investments. It offers whole, term, and other life insurance products; Medicare supplement and supplemental health insurance products, such as accident, cancer, critical illness, heart, and intensive care plans; and single-premium and flexible-premium deferred annuities. The company sells its products through its direct to consumer division, exclusive agencies, and independent agents. The company was formerly known as Torchmark Corporation and changed its name to Globe Life Inc. in August 2019. Globe Life Inc. was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in McKinney, Texas.