Comparing Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) and Kingstone Companies (NASDAQ:KINS)

Kingstone Companies (NASDAQ:KINS) and Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Kingstone Companies and Prudential Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kingstone Companies	0	1	1	0	2.50
Prudential Financial	6	9	2	0	1.76

Prudential Financial has a consensus price target of $112.40, indicating a potential downside of 8.24%. Given Prudential Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Prudential Financial is more favorable than Kingstone Companies.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

14.9% of Kingstone Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.8% of Prudential Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Kingstone Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Prudential Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Kingstone Companies and Prudential Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kingstone Companies	$214.87 million	1.52	$40.77 million	$2.87	7.84
Prudential Financial	$57.68 billion	0.73	$3.58 billion	$10.99	11.15

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

Dividends

Kingstone Companies pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Prudential Financial pays an annual dividend of $5.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Kingstone Companies pays out 8.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Prudential Financial pays out 51.0% 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. Prudential Financial has raised its dividend for 18 consecutive years. Prudential Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

Kingstone Companies has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prudential Financial has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Kingstone Companies and Prudential Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kingstone Companies	16.83%	34.79%	9.28%
Prudential Financial	6.75%	16.38%	0.67%

Summary

Prudential Financial beats Kingstone Companies on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kingstone Companies

Kingstone Companies, Inc. is an insurance holding company that operates primarily through its subsidiary, Kingstone Insurance Company. The company focuses on property and casualty insurance for individuals and families, with an emphasis on personal lines coverage. Its products have included homeowners, condominium, cooperative, renters, dwelling fire and personal umbrella insurance. These policies are designed to protect residential properties and personal assets against risks such as property damage, liability claims and other covered losses.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. is a financial services company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Founded in 1875 as the Prudential Friendly Society, it has grown into a provider of insurance, retirement and investment services. The company offers life insurance, annuities, workplace benefits and retirement-related products and services. Through its asset management businesses, Prudential also serves individual and institutional investors. Prudential serves customers in the United States and operates internationally, with a significant presence in Japan and other markets.