W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) and Globe Life (NYSE:GL) Financial Contrast

Globe Life (NYSE:GL) and W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Globe Life has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.R. Berkley has a beta of 0.29, indicating that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.6% of Globe Life shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.8% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Globe Life shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 25.1% of W.R. Berkley shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Globe Life and W.R. Berkley”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Globe Life	$5.99 billion	2.21	$1.16 billion	$15.06	11.45
W.R. Berkley	$14.71 billion	1.73	$1.78 billion	$4.87	14.07

W.R. Berkley has higher revenue and earnings than Globe Life. Globe Life is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.R. Berkley, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Globe Life and W.R. Berkley, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Globe Life	0	2	8	1	2.91
W.R. Berkley	6	9	3	0	1.83

Globe Life currently has a consensus price target of $191.67, indicating a potential upside of 11.15%. W.R. Berkley has a consensus price target of $70.94, indicating a potential upside of 3.50%. Given Globe Life’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Globe Life is more favorable than W.R. Berkley.

Profitability

This table compares Globe Life and W.R. Berkley’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Globe Life	19.58%	20.52%	3.96%
W.R. Berkley	12.94%	19.44%	4.28%

Dividends

Globe Life pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.R. Berkley pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Globe Life pays out 8.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. W.R. Berkley pays out 8.2% 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. Globe Life has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years and W.R. Berkley has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years.

Summary

Globe Life beats W.R. Berkley on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Globe Life

Globe Life Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various life and supplemental health insurance products, and annuities to lower middle- and middle-income families in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Supplemental Health Insurance, Annuities, and Investments. It offers whole, term, and other life insurance products; Medicare supplement and supplemental health insurance products, such as accident, cancer, critical illness, heart, and intensive care plans; and single-premium and flexible-premium deferred annuities. The company sells its products through its direct to consumer division, exclusive agencies, and independent agents. The company was formerly known as Torchmark Corporation and changed its name to Globe Life Inc. in August 2019. Globe Life Inc. was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in McKinney, Texas.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines. This segment also provides accident and health insurance and reinsurance products; insurance for commercial risks; casualty and specialty environmental products; specialized insurance coverages for fine arts and jewelry exposures; excess liability and inland marine coverage for small to medium-sized insureds; and commercial general liability, umbrella, professional liability, directors and officers, commercial property, and surety products, as well as products for technology, and life sciences and travel industries. In addition, this segment offers cyber risk solutions; crime and fidelity insurance products; medical professional coverages; workers' compensation insurance products; general insurance; personal lines insurance solutions, including home, condo/co-op, auto, and collectibles; automobile, law enforcement, public officials and educator's legal, and employment practices liability, as well as incidental medical and property and crime insurance products; at-risk and alternative risk insurance program management services; professional liability; energy and marine risks; and provides insurance products to the Lloyd's marketplace. The Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment provides treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions; property and casualty reinsurance; facultative reinsurance products include automatic, semi-automatic and individual risk assumed reinsurance; and turnkey products such as cyber, employment practices liability insurance, liquor liability insurance and violent events. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.