Reviewing Swiss Re (OTCMKTS:SSREY) & CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO)

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) and Swiss Re (OTCMKTS:SSREY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

CNO Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Swiss Re pays an annual dividend of $1.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. CNO Financial Group pays out 25.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CNO Financial Group has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

CNO Financial Group has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Swiss Re has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares CNO Financial Group and Swiss Re’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CNO Financial Group	6.41%	16.63%	1.13%
Swiss Re	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CNO Financial Group and Swiss Re”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CNO Financial Group	$4.45 billion	0.87	$404.00 million	$2.71	14.81
Swiss Re	$45.60 billion	1.24	$3.24 billion	N/A	N/A

Swiss Re has higher revenue and earnings than CNO Financial Group.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for CNO Financial Group and Swiss Re, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CNO Financial Group	0	3	3	0	2.50
Swiss Re	3	3	1	2	2.22

CNO Financial Group currently has a consensus target price of $43.60, indicating a potential upside of 8.61%. Given CNO Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe CNO Financial Group is more favorable than Swiss Re.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.4% of CNO Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of CNO Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

CNO Financial Group beats Swiss Re on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, insurance products, and financial services for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. It offers Medicare supplement, supplemental health, and long-term care insurance policies; life insurance; and annuities, as well as Medicare advantage plans to individuals through phone, online, mail, and face-to-face. The company also focuses on sale of voluntary benefit life and health insurance products for businesses, associations, and other membership groups by interacting with customers at their place of employment. In addition, it provides fixed indexed annuities; fixed interest annuities, including fixed rate single and flexible premium deferred annuities; single premium immediate annuities; supplemental health products, such as specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity products; and long-term care plans primarily to retirees and older self-employed individuals in the middle-income market. Further, the company offers universal life and other interest-sensitive life products; and traditional life policies that include whole life, graded benefit life, term life, and single premium whole life products, as well as graded benefit life insurance products. It markets its products under the Bankers Life, Washington National, and Colonial Penn brand names. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.

About Swiss Re

Swiss Re AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides wholesale reinsurance, insurance, other insurance-based forms of risk transfer, and other insurance-related services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Property & Casualty Reinsurance, Life & Health Reinsurance, and Corporate Solutions. The Property & Casualty Reinsurance segment underwrites property reinsurance, including property, credit and surety, engineering, aviation, marine, agriculture, retakaful, and facultative reinsurance solutions; and casualty reinsurance, such as liability, motor, worker's compensation, personal accident, management and professional liability, cyber, and facultative reinsurance solutions. The Life & Health Reinsurance segment underwrites life and health insurance products. The Corporate Solutions segment offers standard risk transfer covers and multi-line programs to customized solutions. It serves stock and mutual insurance companies, public sector and governmental entities, mid-sized and large corporations, and individuals. The company was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.