Financial Analysis: Power Co. of Canada (OTCMKTS:PWCDF) & National Western Life Group (NASDAQ:NWLI)

National Western Life Group (NASDAQ:NWLI) and Power Co. of Canada (OTCMKTS:PWCDF) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares National Western Life Group and Power Co. of Canada’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Western Life Group	$640.66 million	2.59	$101.14 million	$21.53	21.18
Power Co. of Canada	N/A	N/A	N/A	$2.72	10.08

National Western Life Group has higher revenue and earnings than Power Co. of Canada. Power Co. of Canada is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Western Life Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for National Western Life Group and Power Co. of Canada, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Western Life Group	0	0	0	0	N/A
Power Co. of Canada	0	1	0	0	2.00

Power Co. of Canada has a consensus price target of $40.06, suggesting a potential upside of 46.00%. Given Power Co. of Canada’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Power Co. of Canada is more favorable than National Western Life Group.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

88.8% of National Western Life Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of Power Co. of Canada shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.5% of National Western Life Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares National Western Life Group and Power Co. of Canada’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Western Life Group	11.46%	3.47%	0.57%
Power Co. of Canada	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

National Western Life Group pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Power Co. of Canada pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. National Western Life Group pays out 1.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Power Co. of Canada pays out 42.6% 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.

Summary

National Western Life Group beats Power Co. of Canada on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Western Life Group

National Western Life Group, Inc., through its subsidiary, National Western Life Insurance Company, operates as a stock life insurance company. It operates through Domestic Life Insurance, International Life Insurance, Annuities, and ONL and Affiliates segments. The company provides life products, including universal life insurance, interest-sensitive whole life, and traditional products, such as term insurance coverage; and annuity products comprising flexible premium and single premium deferred annuities, equity-index annuities, and single premium immediate annuities. The company also engages in the real estate and other investment activities. It markets and distributes its insurance products primarily through independent national marketing organizations. National Western Life Group, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is based in Austin, Texas.

About Power Co. of Canada

Power Corporation of Canada, an international management and holding company, offers financial services in North America, Europe, and Asia. It operates through Lifeco, IGM Financial, and GBL segments. The company offers life, disability, critical illness, accidental death, dismemberment, health and dental protection, and creditor insurance; retirement and investment management; fund and asset management; reinsurance and retrocession; investment advisory, financial planning, and related services; fund products; and protection and wealth management services. It also provides employer-sponsored retirement plan, individual retirement account and drawdown, investment option, and education services, as well as taxable brokerage accounts; private keeping and administrative services; payout annuities, equity release mortgages, life bonds, mortgage, securities, pension, private equity, and financial services; and investment products, such as equity, fixed income, absolute return and alternative strategies, exchange traded funds, and trust funds. The company was incorporated in 1925 and is based in Montreal, Canada. Power Corporation of Canada operates as a subsidiary of Pansolo Holding Inc.