Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) & Primerica (NYSE:PRI) Head to Head Contrast

Primerica (NYSE:PRI) and Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Primerica and Selective Insurance Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Primerica	22.99%	32.32%	5.21%
Selective Insurance Group	9.10%	14.51%	3.22%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Primerica and Selective Insurance Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Primerica	0	5	3	0	2.38
Selective Insurance Group	1	5	2	0	2.12

Primerica currently has a consensus price target of $308.67, indicating a potential downside of 3.54%. Selective Insurance Group has a consensus price target of $100.33, indicating a potential upside of 3.77%. Given Selective Insurance Group’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Selective Insurance Group is more favorable than Primerica.

Dividends

Primerica pays an annual dividend of $4.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Selective Insurance Group pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Primerica pays out 20.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Selective Insurance Group pays out 21.3% 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. Primerica has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Selective Insurance Group has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Selective Insurance Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Primerica has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Selective Insurance Group has a beta of 0.3, indicating that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Primerica and Selective Insurance Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Primerica	$3.29 billion	3.03	$751.23 million	$23.85	13.42
Selective Insurance Group	$5.47 billion	1.05	$466.41 million	$8.06	12.00

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.9% of Primerica shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.9% of Selective Insurance Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Primerica shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Selective Insurance Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Primerica beats Selective Insurance Group on 12 of the 17 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 Selective Insurance Group

Selective Insurance Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Standard Commercial Lines, Standard Personal Lines, E&S Lines, and Investments. It offers casualty insurance products that covers the financial consequences of employee injuries in the course of employment and bodily injury and/or property damage to a third party; property insurance products, which covers the accidental loss of an insured's real property, personal property, and/or earnings due to the property's loss; and flood insurance products. The company also invests in fixed income investments and commercial mortgage loans, as well as equity securities, short-term investments, and alternative investments, and other investments. It offers its insurance products and services to businesses, non-profit organizations, local government agencies, and individuals through independent retail agents and wholesale general agents. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey.