Centrica (CNA) Competitors

Prudential (LON:PRU) and Centrica (LON:CNA) are both insurance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and media sentiment.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, PRU or CNA?

Centrica has higher revenue and earnings than Prudential. Centrica is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Prudential, 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
Prudential	£10.35B	2.90	£827.01M	£20.02	45.56
Centrica	£19.40B	0.41	£1.05B	£20.98	7.54

Is PRU or CNA more profitable?

Prudential has a net margin of 7.99% compared to Centrica's net margin of 5.39%. Centrica's return on equity of 25.16% beat Prudential's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Prudential	7.99%	4.50%	1.23%
Centrica	5.39%	25.16%	-33.70%

Do analysts recommend PRU or CNA?

Prudential currently has a consensus price target of GBX 1,103.33, indicating a potential upside of 20.96%. Centrica has a consensus price target of GBX 150, indicating a potential downside of 5.22%. Given Prudential's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Prudential is more favorable than Centrica.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Prudential	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Centrica	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33

Which has more volatility and risk, PRU or CNA?

Prudential has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Centrica has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer PRU or CNA?

In the previous week, Prudential had 4 more articles in the media than Centrica. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Prudential and 6 mentions for Centrica. Prudential's average media sentiment score of 0.44 beat Centrica's score of 0.37 indicating that Prudential is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Prudential	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Centrica	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of PRU or CNA?

62.0% of Prudential shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.2% of Centrica shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Prudential shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Centrica shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is PRU or CNA a better dividend stock?

Prudential pays an annual dividend of GBX 17 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Centrica pays an annual dividend of GBX 4 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Prudential pays out 84.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Centrica pays out 19.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Centrica is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Prudential beats Centrica on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.