American Financial Group (AFG) Competitors

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) and The Hartford Insurance Group (NYSE:HIG) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, media sentiment, valuation and institutional ownership.

Do analysts prefer AFG or HIG?

American Financial Group currently has a consensus price target of $139.33, suggesting a potential upside of 9.46%. The Hartford Insurance Group has a consensus price target of $132.58, suggesting a potential upside of 6.09%. Given American Financial Group's higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe American Financial Group is more favorable than The Hartford Insurance Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
The Hartford Insurance Group	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62

Which has more volatility & risk, AFG or HIG?

American Financial Group has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Hartford Insurance Group has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to AFG or HIG?

In the previous week, The Hartford Insurance Group had 5 more articles in the media than American Financial Group. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for The Hartford Insurance Group and 10 mentions for American Financial Group. American Financial Group's average media sentiment score of 1.30 beat The Hartford Insurance Group's score of 1.26 indicating that American Financial Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Financial Group	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
The Hartford Insurance Group	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, AFG or HIG?

The Hartford Insurance Group has higher revenue and earnings than American Financial Group. The Hartford Insurance Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Financial Group, 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
American Financial Group	$8.32B	1.28	$887M	$9.52	13.37
The Hartford Insurance Group	$26.54B	1.34	$3.11B	$10.03	12.46

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in AFG or HIG?

64.4% of American Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.4% of The Hartford Insurance Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.4% of American Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of The Hartford Insurance Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AFG or HIG a better dividend stock?

American Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. The Hartford Insurance Group pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. American Financial Group pays out 33.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The Hartford Insurance Group pays out 20.7% 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. American Financial Group has increased its dividend for 19 consecutive years and The Hartford Insurance Group has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. American Financial Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is AFG or HIG more profitable?

The Hartford Insurance Group has a net margin of 11.10% compared to American Financial Group's net margin of 9.66%. The Hartford Insurance Group's return on equity of 18.73% beat American Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Financial Group	9.66%	18.34%	2.66%
The Hartford Insurance Group	11.10%	18.73%	3.74%

Summary

The Hartford Insurance Group beats American Financial Group on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.