Ryan Specialty (NYSE:RYAN – Get Free Report) and Kansas City Life Insurance (OTCMKTS:KCLI – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.
Dividends
Ryan Specialty pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Kansas City Life Insurance pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Ryan Specialty pays out 72.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kansas City Life Insurance pays out 32.4% 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. Ryan Specialty has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Kansas City Life Insurance is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Risk & Volatility
Ryan Specialty has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kansas City Life Insurance has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ryan Specialty | $3.05 billion | 3.54 | $63.40 million | $0.72 | 58.64 |
| Kansas City Life Insurance | $485.45 million | 0.71 | -$20.76 million | $2.22 | 16.08 |
Ryan Specialty has higher revenue and earnings than Kansas City Life Insurance. Kansas City Life Insurance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ryan Specialty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Ryan Specialty and Kansas City Life Insurance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ryan Specialty | 7.55% | 43.97% | 4.78% |
| Kansas City Life Insurance | 4.39% | 3.29% | 0.44% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
84.8% of Ryan Specialty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Kansas City Life Insurance shares are held by institutional investors. 52.0% of Ryan Specialty shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 63.1% of Kansas City Life Insurance shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ryan Specialty and Kansas City Life Insurance, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ryan Specialty | 1 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2.37 |
| Kansas City Life Insurance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Ryan Specialty currently has a consensus target price of $53.86, indicating a potential upside of 27.58%. Given Ryan Specialty’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ryan Specialty is more favorable than Kansas City Life Insurance.
Summary
Ryan Specialty beats Kansas City Life Insurance on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ryan Specialty
Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. operates as a service provider of specialty products and solutions for insurance brokers, agents, and carriers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Singapore. It offers distribution, underwriting, product development, administration, and risk management services by acting as a wholesale broker and a managing underwriter. The company serves commercial, industrial, institutional, and government sectors. Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
About Kansas City Life Insurance
Kansas City Life Insurance Company provides insurance products and services in states and the District of Columbia. It operates through three segments: Individual Insurance, Group Insurance, and Old American. The Individual Insurance segment consists of individual insurance products for Kansas City life, Grange life, and the assumed reinsurance transactions. The Group Insurance segment sells group life, dental, vision, disability, accident, and critical illness products. The Old American segment consists of individual insurance products designed for final expense products. Kansas City Life Insurance Company was incorporated in 1895 and is based in Kansas City, Missouri.
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