Critical Analysis: Allianz (OTCMKTS:ALIZY) versus Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF)

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) and Allianz (OTCMKTS:ALIZY) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Fidelity National Financial and Allianz, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fidelity National Financial	1	2	2	0	2.20
Allianz	0	2	2	1	2.80

Fidelity National Financial currently has a consensus price target of $56.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.39%. Given Fidelity National Financial’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Fidelity National Financial is more favorable than Allianz.

Volatility & Risk

Fidelity National Financial has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Allianz has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fidelity National Financial and Allianz”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fidelity National Financial	$14.45 billion	0.96	$602.00 million	$2.74	18.86
Allianz	$211.45 billion	0.90	$12.19 billion	$3.60	13.82

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.2% of Fidelity National Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Allianz shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.7% of Fidelity National Financial 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.

Dividends

Fidelity National Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Allianz pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Fidelity National Financial pays out 75.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Allianz pays out 38.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fidelity National Financial has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Fidelity National Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Fidelity National Financial and Allianz’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fidelity National Financial	5.10%	15.49%	1.29%
Allianz	6.48%	19.92%	1.25%

Summary

Fidelity National Financial beats Allianz on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides various insurance products in the United States. The company operates through Title, F&G, and Corporate and Other segments. It offers title insurance, escrow, and other title related services, including trust activities, trustee sales guarantees, recordings and reconveyances, and home warranty products. The company also provides technology and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries; and mortgage transaction services, including title-related services and facilitation of production and management of mortgage loans. In addition, it offers annuity and life insurance products, such as deferred and immediate annuities, as well as indexed universal life insurance products; and funding agreements and pension risk transfer (PRT) solutions. Further, the company engages in the real estate brokerage business. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

About Allianz

Allianz SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides property-casualty insurance, life/health insurance, and asset management products and services worldwide. The company’s Property-Casualty segment offers various insurance products, including motor liability and own damage, accident, general liability, fire and property, legal expense, credit, and travel to private and corporate customers. Its Life/Health segment provides a range of life and health insurance products on an individual and a group basis, such as annuities, endowment and term insurance, and unit-linked and investment-oriented products, as well as private and supplemental health, and long-term care insurance products. The company’s Asset Management segment offers institutional and retail asset management products and services to third-party investors comprising equity and fixed income funds, and multi-assets; and alternative investment products that include real estate, infrastructure debt/equity, real assets, liquid alternatives, and solutions. Its Corporate and Other segment provides banking services for retail clients, as well as digital investment services. Allianz SE was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Munich, Germany.