Comparing Scor (OTCMKTS:SCRYY) & American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG)

Scor (OTCMKTS:SCRYY) and American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Scor and American Financial Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scor	$17.39 billion	0.41	$962.82 million	$0.54	7.31
American Financial Group	$8.17 billion	1.56	$842.00 million	$11.44	13.43

Scor has higher revenue and earnings than American Financial Group. Scor 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

64.4% of American Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.9% of American Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Scor has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Financial Group has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Scor and American Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Scor	5.50%	19.18%	2.33%
American Financial Group	11.51%	20.35%	2.94%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Scor and American Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Scor	1	3	2	0	2.17
American Financial Group	0	3	2	0	2.40

American Financial Group has a consensus price target of $152.75, indicating a potential downside of 0.56%. Given American Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Financial Group is more favorable than Scor.

Dividends

Scor pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. American Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Scor pays out 27.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Financial Group pays out 33.9% 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 raised its dividend for 19 consecutive years. Scor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

American Financial Group beats Scor on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Scor

SCOR SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides life and non-life reinsurance products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, SCOR P&C and SCOR L&H. The SCOR P&C segment offers reinsurance products in the areas of property, motors, casualty treaties, credit and surety, decennial insurance, aviation, marine and energy, engineering, agricultural risks, and property catastrophes; specialties insurance products, including business solutions, political and credit risks, cyber, and environmental liability; and business ventures and partnerships. The SCOR L&H segment provides life reinsurance products, such as protection for mortality, morbidity, behavioral risks, disability, long-term care, critical illness, medical, and personal accident. This segment also provides financial solutions that combine traditional life reinsurance with financial components and provide liquidity, balance sheet, solvency, and income improvements to clients; longevity solutions that include products covering the risk of negative deviation from expected results due to the insured or annuitant living longer than assumed in the pricing of insurance covers provided by insurers or pension funds; and distribution solutions. In addition, it is involved in the asset management business. SCOR SE was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

About American Financial Group

American Financial Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company offers property and transportation insurance products, such as physical damage and liability coverage for buses and trucks, inland and ocean marine, agricultural-related products, and other commercial property and specialty transportation coverages; specialty casualty insurance, including primarily excess and surplus, executive and professional liability, general liability, umbrella and excess liability, and specialty coverage in targeted markets, as well as customized programs for small to mid-sized businesses and workers’ compensation insurance; and specialty financial insurance products comprising risk management insurance programs for lending and leasing institutions, fidelity and surety products, and trade credit insurance. It sells its property and casualty insurance products through independent insurance agents and brokers. The company was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.