Critical Survey: Loews (NYSE:L) and Yuanbao (NASDAQ:YB)

Yuanbao (NASDAQ:YB) and Loews (NYSE:L) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

58.3% of Loews shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.0% of Loews shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Yuanbao and Loews’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Yuanbao	N/A	N/A	N/A
Loews	7.95%	7.89%	1.73%

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Yuanbao	$456.88 million	2.00	$120.44 million	$2.87	7.05
Loews	$17.51 billion	1.26	$1.41 billion	$6.90	15.44

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Yuanbao and Loews, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Yuanbao	0	1	0	0	2.00
Loews	0	0	0	1	4.00

Summary

Loews beats Yuanbao on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Yuanbao

Our mission is to protect health and well-being through technology. We are a leading technology-driven online insurance distributor in China. We take pride in pioneering the seamless integration of insurance with cutting-edge technologies, and have constructed a highly efficient full consumer service cycle engine. Through this engine, we successfully distribute suitable and high-quality insurance products to over ten million insurance consumers. According to Frost & Sullivan, we were the largest independent insurance distributor in China’s personal life and accident & health (A&H) insurance market in terms of first year premiums in 2023. Our engine enables us to provide customized services for each insurance consumer across personalized recommendation, purchasing, policy management, claim settlements and post-sales services. Built upon a scalable architecture, our engine is equipped with effective predictive capabilities generated from interconnected networks of models. This allows us to continually optimize model outcomes across different media channels, diverse consumer preferences and product depth and breadth. As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately 4,700 models supporting our operations. Our engine offers significant value propositions for insurance consumers and insurance carriers. We act as a unique and efficient gateway to distribute customized insurance products underwritten by our partnered insurance carriers. We have robust collaboration with insurance carriers by empowering them to tailor a variety of flagship insurance products, which in turn enables us to attract and retain a vast consumer base and stimulate their demand for insurance products. By accumulating and analyzing more big data, we gain deeper and wider understanding of consumer demands and behavior. Through all this, we are able to fulfill consumers’ evolving needs and enhance insurance carriers’ sales at the same time. We believe there is substantial untapped market potential for online insurance distribution. According to Frost & Sullivan, the penetration rate of online insurance sales still lags behind the penetration rate of online retail sales. Moreover, the penetration rate of online distribution for personal life and A&H insurance in China, in terms of gross written premium (“GWP”), is anticipated to double over the next five years. Driven by our engine and our market leading position, we are well-positioned to further penetrate this rapidly growing market. Our principal executive offices are located in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.

About Loews

Loews Corporation provides commercial property and casualty insurance in the United States and internationally. The company offers specialty insurance products, such as management and professional liability, and other coverage products; surety and fidelity bonds; property insurance products that include standard and excess property, marine and boiler, and machinery coverages; and casualty insurance products, such as workers' compensation, general and product liability, and commercial auto, surplus, and umbrella coverages. It also provides loss-sensitive insurance programs; and warranty, risk management, information, and claims administration services. The company markets its insurance products and services through independent agents, brokers, and managing general underwriters. In addition, the company is involved in the transportation and storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids, and hydrocarbons through natural gas pipelines covering approximately 13,455 miles of interconnected pipelines; 855 miles of NGL pipelines in Louisiana and Texas; 14 underground storage fields with an aggregate gas capacity of approximately 199.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas; and eleven salt dome caverns and related brine infrastructure for providing brine supply services. Further, the company operates a chain of 25 hotels; and develops, manufactures, and markets a range of extrusion blow-molded and injection molded plastic containers for customers in the pharmaceutical, dairy, household chemicals, food/nutraceuticals, industrial/specialty chemicals, and water and beverage/juice industries, as well as manufactures commodity and differentiated plastic resins from recycled plastic materials. Loews Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in New York, New York.