Assurant (AIZ) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer AIZ or HIG?

The Hartford Financial Services Group received 368 more outperform votes than Assurant when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.17% of users gave The Hartford Financial Services Group an outperform vote while only 57.45% of users gave Assurant an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Assurant	Outperform Votes 297 57.45%	Underperform Votes 220 42.55%
The Hartford Financial Services Group	Outperform Votes 665 66.17%	Underperform Votes 340 33.83%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in AIZ or HIG?

92.7% of Assurant shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.4% of The Hartford Financial Services Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Assurant shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of The Hartford Financial Services Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AIZ or HIG more profitable?

The Hartford Financial Services Group has a net margin of 11.72% compared to Assurant's net margin of 6.40%. The Hartford Financial Services Group's return on equity of 19.55% beat Assurant's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Assurant	6.40%	17.25%	2.55%
The Hartford Financial Services Group	11.72%	19.55%	3.88%

Is AIZ or HIG a better dividend stock?

Assurant pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. The Hartford Financial Services Group pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Assurant pays out 22.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The Hartford Financial Services Group pays out 20.1% 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 increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. The Hartford Financial Services Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts rate AIZ or HIG?

Assurant presently has a consensus target price of $234.17, indicating a potential upside of 10.55%. The Hartford Financial Services Group has a consensus target price of $122.94, indicating a potential downside of 0.13%. Given Assurant's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Assurant is more favorable than The Hartford Financial Services Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Assurant	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
The Hartford Financial Services Group	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56

Does the media refer more to AIZ or HIG?

In the previous week, Assurant had 5 more articles in the media than The Hartford Financial Services Group. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Assurant and 21 mentions for The Hartford Financial Services Group. The Hartford Financial Services Group's average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Assurant's score of 0.84 indicating that The Hartford Financial Services Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Assurant	14 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
The Hartford Financial Services Group	18 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, AIZ or HIG?

Assurant has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Hartford Financial Services Group has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, AIZ or HIG?

The Hartford Financial Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than Assurant. The Hartford Financial Services Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Assurant, 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
Assurant	$11.88B	0.91	$760.20M	$14.47	14.64
The Hartford Financial Services Group	$26.38B	1.33	$3.11B	$10.35	11.89

Summary

The Hartford Financial Services Group beats Assurant on 17 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.