United Fire Group (NASDAQ:UFCS – Get Free Report) and CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
62.7% of United Fire Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.4% of CNO Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 6.1% of United Fire Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of CNO Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for United Fire Group and CNO Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| United Fire Group | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3.50 |
| CNO Financial Group | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.40 |
Dividends
United Fire Group pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. CNO Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. United Fire Group pays out 14.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CNO Financial Group pays out 24.7% 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. CNO Financial Group has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. United Fire Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares United Fire Group and CNO Financial Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| United Fire Group | $1.39 billion | 0.99 | $118.19 million | $5.38 | 9.91 |
| CNO Financial Group | $4.49 billion | 1.11 | $229.30 million | $2.91 | 18.42 |
CNO Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than United Fire Group. United Fire Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CNO Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares United Fire Group and CNO Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| United Fire Group | 9.57% | 15.19% | 3.69% |
| CNO Financial Group | 6.02% | 18.76% | 1.24% |
Volatility & Risk
United Fire Group has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CNO Financial Group has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
CNO Financial Group beats United Fire Group on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About United Fire Group
United Fire Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers commercial and personal lines of property and casualty insurance; and reinsurance coverage for property and casualty insurance. Its commercial lines include fire and allied lines, other liability, automobile, workers’ compensation, fidelity and surety coverage, and other insurance products; and personal lines comprise automobile, and fire and allied lines coverage, including homeowners, as well as provides assumed reinsurance products. The company sells its products through a network of independent agencies. United Fire Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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.
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