Comparing Great-West Lifeco (OTCMKTS:GWLIF) and Goosehead Insurance (NASDAQ:GSHD)

Goosehead Insurance (NASDAQ:GSHD) and Great-West Lifeco (OTCMKTS:GWLIF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Goosehead Insurance and Great-West Lifeco”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Goosehead Insurance	$402.16 million	5.85	$27.83 million	$1.37	48.39
Great-West Lifeco	N/A	N/A	N/A	$2.60	25.48

Goosehead Insurance has higher revenue and earnings than Great-West Lifeco. Great-West Lifeco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Goosehead Insurance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Goosehead Insurance and Great-West Lifeco, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Goosehead Insurance	2	5	7	0	2.36
Great-West Lifeco	0	3	5	0	2.62

Goosehead Insurance currently has a consensus target price of $68.45, indicating a potential upside of 3.27%. Given Goosehead Insurance’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Goosehead Insurance is more favorable than Great-West Lifeco.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

11.8% of Great-West Lifeco shares are owned by institutional investors. 38.1% of Goosehead Insurance shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Goosehead Insurance and Great-West Lifeco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Goosehead Insurance	8.78%	-21.00%	9.43%
Great-West Lifeco	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Goosehead Insurance pays an annual dividend of $4.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.9%. Great-West Lifeco pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Goosehead Insurance pays out 335.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Great-West Lifeco pays out 47.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Goosehead Insurance beats Great-West Lifeco on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Goosehead Insurance

Goosehead Insurance, Inc. operates as a holding company for Goosehead Financial, LLC that engages in the provision of personal lines insurance agency services in the United States. The company offers homeowner’s, automotive, dwelling property, flood, wind, earthquake, excess liability or umbrella, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, general liability, property, and life insurance products and services. As of December 31, 2023, it operated 1,415 franchise locations. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Westlake, Texas.

About Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco Inc. engages in the life and health insurance, retirement and investment services, asset management, and reinsurance businesses in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company offers life, accidental death and dismemberment, disability, critical illness, health and dental protection, and creditor insurance products; and retirement and wealth savings, income and annuity products, and other specialty products to individuals, families, businesses, and organizations. It provides individual product solutions and employer-sponsored retirement savings plans that offers saving, investment, and advisory services; wealth management including payout annuity, equity release mortgages, pensions, and investments products. In addition, the company offers bulk and individual payout annuities, equity release mortgages, life bonds, and retirement drawdown and pension products; savings and investments; and provides asset management services, such as pension schemes, insurance companies, wealth managers, fiduciary managers, and sovereign wealth funds, as well manages assets for third-party institutional clients. Further, it provides life, annuity/longevity, mortgage surety, and property catastrophe reinsurance products. The company offers its products under the Canada Life, Irish Life, and Empower brand names. It distributes its products through a network of sales force, brokers, consultants, advisors, third-party administrators, financial institutions, dealers, managing general agencies, employee benefit consultants, banks, and multi-tied agents. The company was founded in 1891 and is based in Winnipeg, Canada. Great-West Lifeco Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Power Financial Corporation.