Centrica (CNA) Competitors

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

Do insiders & institutionals believe in CNA or PRU?

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

Is CNA or PRU a better dividend stock?

Centrica pays an annual dividend of GBX 4 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Prudential pays an annual dividend of GBX 17 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Centrica pays out 19.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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 is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer CNA or PRU?

Centrica currently has a consensus target price of GBX 150, indicating a potential downside of 4.25%. Prudential has a consensus target price of GBX 1,103.33, indicating a potential upside of 20.82%. Given Prudential's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Prudential is more favorable than Centrica.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Centrica	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50
Prudential	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more volatility & risk, CNA or PRU?

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

Does the media prefer CNA or PRU?

In the previous week, Prudential had 5 more articles in the media than Centrica. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Prudential and 3 mentions for Centrica. Prudential's average media sentiment score of 0.47 beat Centrica's score of 0.22 indicating that Prudential is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Centrica	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Prudential	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has better earnings and valuation, CNA or PRU?

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
Centrica	£19.40B	0.40	£1.05B	£20.98	7.47
Prudential	£10.35B	2.90	£827.01M	£20.02	45.62

Is CNA or PRU 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
Centrica	5.39%	25.16%	-33.70%
Prudential	7.99%	4.50%	1.23%

Summary

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