Head-To-Head Survey: Loews (NYSE:L) and Aegon (NYSE:AEG)

Loews (NYSE:L) and Aegon (NYSE:AEG) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

58.3% of Loews shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.3% of Aegon shares are held by institutional investors. 18.7% of Loews shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Loews pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Aegon pays an annual dividend of $0.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Loews pays out 3.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Aegon pays out -142.3% 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. Aegon is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Loews and Aegon, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Loews	0	0	1	0	3.00
Aegon	0	1	3	1	3.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Loews and Aegon”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Loews	$17.78 billion	1.19	$1.41 billion	$6.90	14.73
Aegon	$17.05 billion	0.90	$744.48 million	($0.26)	-29.31

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

Profitability

This table compares Loews and Aegon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Loews	7.47%	7.43%	1.62%
Aegon	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk & Volatility

Loews has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aegon has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Loews beats Aegon on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Loews

Loews Corporation provides commercial property and casualty insurance in the United States and internationally. The company offers specialty insurance products, such as management and professional liability, and other coverage products; surety and fidelity bonds; property insurance products that include standard and excess property, marine and boiler, and machinery coverages; and casualty insurance products, such as workers' compensation, general and product liability, and commercial auto, surplus, and umbrella coverages. It also provides loss-sensitive insurance programs; and warranty, risk management, information, and claims administration services. The company markets its insurance products and services through independent agents, brokers, and managing general underwriters. In addition, the company is involved in the transportation and storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids, and hydrocarbons through natural gas pipelines covering approximately 13,455 miles of interconnected pipelines; 855 miles of NGL pipelines in Louisiana and Texas; 14 underground storage fields with an aggregate gas capacity of approximately 199.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas; and eleven salt dome caverns and related brine infrastructure for providing brine supply services. Further, the company operates a chain of 25 hotels; and develops, manufactures, and markets a range of extrusion blow-molded and injection molded plastic containers for customers in the pharmaceutical, dairy, household chemicals, food/nutraceuticals, industrial/specialty chemicals, and water and beverage/juice industries, as well as manufactures commodity and differentiated plastic resins from recycled plastic materials. Loews Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Aegon

Aegon Ltd. provides insurance, pensions, retirement, and asset management services in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers life, accident, property and casualty, and health insurance; annuities, retirement plans, mutual funds, and stable value solutions; residential mortgage and digital baking services; and retail and institutional investment management solutions and retirement savings vehicles and strategies. It offers its products under the Aegon and Transamerica brands. Aegon Ltd. was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands.