AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) versus Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Head to Head Review

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) and AMERISAFE (NASDAQ:AMSF) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Aflac and AMERISAFE, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aflac	2	9	3	0	2.07
AMERISAFE	0	1	1	0	2.50

Aflac currently has a consensus target price of $106.50, indicating a potential upside of 1.85%. AMERISAFE has a consensus target price of $59.50, indicating a potential upside of 35.75%. Given AMERISAFE’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AMERISAFE is more favorable than Aflac.

Dividends

Aflac pays an annual dividend of $2.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. AMERISAFE pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Aflac pays out 36.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AMERISAFE pays out 62.9% 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. Aflac has increased its dividend for 44 consecutive years and AMERISAFE has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Aflac and AMERISAFE”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aflac	$17.14 billion	3.30	$5.44 billion	$6.40	16.34
AMERISAFE	$309.04 million	2.70	$55.44 million	$2.48	17.67

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

Profitability

This table compares Aflac and AMERISAFE’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aflac	21.27%	15.55%	3.30%
AMERISAFE	15.76%	16.41%	3.87%

Risk and Volatility

Aflac has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMERISAFE has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

67.4% of Aflac shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.4% of AMERISAFE shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Aflac shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of AMERISAFE shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Aflac beats AMERISAFE on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan. The Aflac U.S. segment provides cancer, accident, short-term disability, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental, vision, long-term care and disability, and term and whole life insurance products in the United States. It sells its products through sales associates, brokers, independent corporate agencies, individual agencies, and affiliated corporate agencies. Aflac Incorporated was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia.

About AMERISAFE

AMERISAFE, Inc., an insurance holding company, underwrites workers’ compensation insurance in the United States. The company provides benefits to injured employees for temporary or permanent disability, death, and medical and hospital expenses. It sells its products through retail and wholesale brokers and agents; and small and mid-sized employers engaged in hazardous industries, including construction, trucking, logging and lumber, agriculture, manufacturing, telecommunications, and maritime. AMERISAFE, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is based in DeRidder, Louisiana.