American Financial Group (AFG) Competitors

The Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) and American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and media sentiment.

Do analysts recommend HIG or AFG?

The Hartford Financial Services Group currently has a consensus target price of $124.13, indicating a potential upside of 5.97%. American Financial Group has a consensus target price of $139.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.34%. Given American Financial Group's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe American Financial Group is more favorable than The Hartford Financial Services Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The Hartford Financial Services Group	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56
American Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of HIG or AFG?

93.4% of The Hartford Financial Services Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of American Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of The Hartford Financial Services Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.4% of American Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, HIG or AFG?

The Hartford Financial Services Group has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Financial Group has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor HIG or AFG?

In the previous week, The Hartford Financial Services Group had 10 more articles in the media than American Financial Group. MarketBeat recorded 33 mentions for The Hartford Financial Services Group and 23 mentions for American Financial Group. The Hartford Financial Services Group's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat American Financial Group's score of 0.66 indicating that The Hartford Financial Services Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
The Hartford Financial Services Group	17 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Financial Group	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is HIG or AFG more profitable?

The Hartford Financial Services Group has a net margin of 11.72% compared to American Financial Group's net margin of 10.66%. American Financial Group's return on equity of 20.30% beat The Hartford Financial Services Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Hartford Financial Services Group	11.72%	19.55%	3.88%
American Financial Group	10.66%	20.30%	2.93%

Which has better valuation and earnings, HIG or AFG?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
The Hartford Financial Services Group	$26.38B	1.28	$3.11B	$10.35	11.32
American Financial Group	$8.28B	1.28	$887M	$10.57	12.03

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer HIG or AFG?

The Hartford Financial Services Group received 349 more outperform votes than American Financial Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.21% of users gave The Hartford Financial Services Group an outperform vote while only 59.55% of users gave American Financial Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
The Hartford Financial Services Group	Outperform Votes 670 66.21%	Underperform Votes 342 33.79%
American Financial Group	Outperform Votes 321 59.55%	Underperform Votes 218 40.45%

Is HIG or AFG a better dividend stock?

The Hartford Financial Services Group pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. American Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. The Hartford Financial Services Group pays out 20.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Financial Group pays out 30.3% 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. The Hartford Financial Services Group has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and American Financial Group has raised its dividend for 19 consecutive years. American Financial Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

The Hartford Financial Services Group beats American Financial Group on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.