Critical Analysis: Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD) vs. Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN)

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD) and Horace Mann Educators (NYSE:HMN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horace Mann Educators has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Skyward Specialty Insurance Group and Horace Mann Educators, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Skyward Specialty Insurance Group	0	3	7	1	2.82
Horace Mann Educators	0	3	0	1	2.50

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group currently has a consensus price target of $46.89, indicating a potential downside of 10.96%. Horace Mann Educators has a consensus price target of $42.67, indicating a potential upside of 2.59%. Given Horace Mann Educators’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Horace Mann Educators is more favorable than Skyward Specialty Insurance Group.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.8% of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.3% of Horace Mann Educators shares are held by institutional investors. 8.0% of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Horace Mann Educators shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Skyward Specialty Insurance Group and Horace Mann Educators’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Skyward Specialty Insurance Group	12.24%	16.39%	3.57%
Horace Mann Educators	6.55%	8.14%	0.69%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Skyward Specialty Insurance Group and Horace Mann Educators”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Skyward Specialty Insurance Group	$885.97 million	2.38	$85.98 million	$3.28	16.05
Horace Mann Educators	$1.54 billion	1.10	$45.00 million	$2.51	16.57

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Horace Mann Educators. Skyward Specialty Insurance Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Horace Mann Educators, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group beats Horace Mann Educators on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Skyward Specialty Insurance Group

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, underwrites commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It offers general liability, excess liability, professional liability, commercial auto, group accident and health, property, surety, and workers' compensation insurance products. Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Horace Mann Educators

Horace Mann Educators Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an insurance holding company in the United States. The company operates through Property & Casualty, Life & Retirement, and Supplemental & Group Benefits segments. Its Property & Casualty segment offers insurance products, including private passenger auto insurance, residential home insurance, and personal umbrella insurance; and provides auto coverages including liability and collision, and property coverage for homeowners and renters. The Life & Retirement segment markets tax-qualified fixed, fixed indexed, and variable annuities; and internal revenue code for educator, which allows public school employees and employees of other tax-exempt organizations, such as not-for-profit private schools, to utilize pretax income to make periodic contributions to a qualified retirement plan. The Supplemental & Group Benefits segment offers employer-sponsored products including accident, critical illness, limited-benefit fixed indemnity insurance, term life, and short-term and long-term disability, as well as worksite direct products, such as supplemental heart, cancer, disability, and accident coverage. The company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Springfield, Illinois.