Critical Review: Allianz (OTCMKTS:ALIZY) & Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF)

Allianz (OTCMKTS:ALIZY) and Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Allianz and Brighthouse Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Allianz	6.31%	18.33%	1.16%
Brighthouse Financial	12.49%	17.24%	0.45%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Allianz and Brighthouse Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Allianz	0	2	2	1	2.80
Brighthouse Financial	0	6	0	0	2.00

Brighthouse Financial has a consensus price target of $64.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.88%. Given Brighthouse Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Brighthouse Financial is more favorable than Allianz.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Allianz and Brighthouse Financial”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Allianz	$211.45 billion	0.84	$12.19 billion	$3.55	13.18
Brighthouse Financial	$6.77 billion	0.41	$433.00 million	$12.53	3.87

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

Volatility and Risk

Allianz has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brighthouse Financial has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Allianz shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Brighthouse Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Brighthouse Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Allianz beats Brighthouse Financial on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Allianz

Allianz SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides property-casualty insurance, life/health insurance, and asset management products and services worldwide. The company’s Property-Casualty segment offers various insurance products, including motor liability and own damage, accident, general liability, fire and property, legal expense, credit, and travel to private and corporate customers. Its Life/Health segment provides a range of life and health insurance products on an individual and a group basis, such as annuities, endowment and term insurance, and unit-linked and investment-oriented products, as well as private and supplemental health, and long-term care insurance products. The company’s Asset Management segment offers institutional and retail asset management products and services to third-party investors comprising equity and fixed income funds, and multi-assets; and alternative investment products that include real estate, infrastructure debt/equity, real assets, liquid alternatives, and solutions. Its Corporate and Other segment provides banking services for retail clients, as well as digital investment services. Allianz SE was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Munich, Germany.

About Brighthouse Financial

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. provides annuity and life insurance products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Annuities, Life, and Run-off. The Annuities segment consists of variable, fixed, index-linked, and income annuities for contract holders’ needs for protected wealth accumulation on a tax-deferred basis, wealth transfer, and income security. The Life segment offers term, universal, whole, and variable life products for policyholders’ needs for financial security and protected wealth transfer. The Run-off segment manages structured settlements, pension risk transfer contracts, certain company-owned life insurance policies, funding agreements, and universal life with secondary guarantees. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.