Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) versus Yuanbao (NASDAQ:YB) Head to Head Comparison

Yuanbao (NASDAQ:YB) and Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Yuanbao and Horace Mann Educators’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Yuanbao	29.67%	44.37%	30.82%
Horace Mann Educators	10.15%	14.08%	1.35%

Dividends

Yuanbao pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.0%. Horace Mann Educators pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Yuanbao pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Horace Mann Educators pays out 33.6% 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 increased its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Yuanbao is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Yuanbao and Horace Mann Educators”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Yuanbao	$625.35 million	0.99	$181.88 million	$4.14	3.31
Horace Mann Educators	$1.68 billion	1.23	$162.10 million	$4.28	11.92

Yuanbao has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Horace Mann Educators. Yuanbao 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.

Volatility & Risk

Yuanbao has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horace Mann Educators has a beta of 0.08, meaning that its share price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.3% of Horace Mann Educators shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Horace Mann Educators shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Yuanbao and Horace Mann Educators, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Yuanbao	0	2	0	0	2.00
Horace Mann Educators	0	0	0	3	4.00

Yuanbao presently has a consensus price target of $21.80, suggesting a potential upside of 59.01%. Horace Mann Educators has a consensus price target of $59.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.63%. Given Yuanbao’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Yuanbao is more favorable than Horace Mann Educators.

Summary

Horace Mann Educators beats Yuanbao on 9 of the 17 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 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.