Analyzing Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) and Goosehead Insurance (NASDAQ:GSHD)

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) and Goosehead Insurance (NASDAQ:GSHD) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.7% of Assurant shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Assurant shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 48.4% of Goosehead Insurance shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Assurant and Goosehead Insurance”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assurant	$12.81 billion	0.87	$872.70 million	$16.97	13.13
Goosehead Insurance	$365.30 million	4.41	$30.43 million	$1.04	42.07

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

Profitability

This table compares Assurant and Goosehead Insurance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Assurant	6.81%	18.65%	2.92%
Goosehead Insurance	7.62%	-21.80%	7.78%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Assurant and Goosehead Insurance, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Assurant	0	2	8	0	2.80
Goosehead Insurance	1	5	7	0	2.46

Assurant currently has a consensus price target of $258.17, indicating a potential upside of 15.83%. Goosehead Insurance has a consensus price target of $84.00, indicating a potential upside of 92.00%. Given Goosehead Insurance’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Goosehead Insurance is more favorable than Assurant.

Risk & Volatility

Assurant has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Goosehead Insurance has a beta of 1.54, meaning that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services. The Global Housing segment provides lender-placed homeowners, manufactured housing, and flood insurance; renters insurance and related products; and voluntary manufactured housing, and condominium and homeowners insurance products. The company was formerly known as Fortis, Inc. and changed its name to Assurant, Inc. in February 2004. Assurant, Inc. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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.