Comparing HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) & Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA)

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) and HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Security National Financial and HCI Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Security National Financial	0	1	0	0	2.00
HCI Group	0	2	5	0	2.71

HCI Group has a consensus target price of $241.67, indicating a potential upside of 31.35%. Given HCI Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HCI Group is more favorable than Security National Financial.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Security National Financial and HCI Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Security National Financial	$336.73 million	0.74	$32.15 million	$1.39	6.53
HCI Group	$900.95 million	2.54	$299.01 million	$23.20	7.93

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

45.6% of Security National Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.0% of HCI Group shares are held by institutional investors. 15.0% of Security National Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.5% of HCI Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Security National Financial and HCI Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Security National Financial	11.10%	9.13%	2.36%
HCI Group	32.60%	28.80%	12.25%

Volatility and Risk

Security National Financial has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCI Group has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

HCI Group beats Security National Financial on 14 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Security National Financial

Security National Financial Corporation engages in the life insurance, cemetery and mortuary, and mortgage businesses. The company's Life Insurance segment is involved in selling and servicing lines of life insurance, annuity products, and accident and health insurance. It offers various life insurance products, including funeral plans and interest-sensitive life insurance, as well as other traditional life, accident, and health insurance products; annuity products comprising single and flexible premium deferred annuities, and immediate annuities; and diver's accident insurance policies. This segment also cedes and assumes various risks with various authorized unaffiliated reinsurers pursuant to reinsurance treaties. Its Cemetery and Mortuary segment operates eight mortuaries and five cemeteries in Utah; one cemetery in California; and four mortuaries and one cemetery in New Mexico. This segment also offers plots, interment vaults, mausoleum crypts, markers, caskets, urns, and other death care related products; and provides professional services of funeral directors, opening and closing of graves, use of chapels and viewing rooms, and use of automobiles and clothing. The company's Mortgages segment originates and underwrites residential and commercial loans for new construction, existing homes, and real estate projects primarily in Florida, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. It offers residential mortgage lending services to real estate brokers and builders, as well as directly with consumers. Security National Financial Corporation was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About HCI Group

HCI Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance, insurance management, reinsurance, real estate, and information technology businesses in Florida. It provides residential insurance products, such as homeowners, fire, flood, and wind-only insurance to homeowners, condominium owners, and tenants for properties, as well as offers reinsurance programs. The company also owns and operates waterfront properties and retail shopping centers, and an office building, as well as commercial properties for investment purposes. In addition, it designs and develops web-based applications and products for mobile devices, including SAMS, an online policy administration platform; Harmony, a policy administration platform; ClaimColony, an end-to-end claims management platform; and AtlasViewer, a mapping and data visualization platform. The company was formerly known as Homeowners Choice, Inc. and changed its name to HCI Group, Inc. in May 2013. HCI Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.