Comparing Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) & Acmat (OTCMKTS:ACMTA)

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) and Acmat (OTCMKTS:ACMTA) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

75.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.8% of Acmat shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Principal Financial Group and Acmat”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Principal Financial Group	$15.63 billion	1.33	$1.19 billion	$5.27	18.25
Acmat	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Principal Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than Acmat.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Principal Financial Group and Acmat, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Principal Financial Group	1	7	2	0	2.10
Acmat	0	0	0	0	0.00

Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus price target of $93.44, suggesting a potential downside of 2.85%. Given Principal Financial Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Principal Financial Group is more favorable than Acmat.

Volatility and Risk

Principal Financial Group has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acmat has a beta of 0.11, suggesting that its share price is 89% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Principal Financial Group	7.58%	16.09%	0.57%
Acmat	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Principal Financial Group beats Acmat on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Global Investors, Principal International, and U.S. Insurance Solutions segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides a portfolio of asset accumulation products and services for retirement savings and income. It offers products and services for defined contribution plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit pension plans, nonqualified executive benefit plans, employee stock ownership plans, equity compensation, and pension risk transfer services; individual retirement accounts; investment only products; and mutual funds, individual variable annuities, and bank products. The Principal Global Investors segment provides equity, fixed income, real estate, and other alternative investments, as well as asset allocation, stable value management, and other structured investment strategies. The Principal International segment offers pension accumulation products and services, mutual funds, asset management, income annuities, and life insurance accumulation products, as well as voluntary savings plans in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, India, and Southeast Asia. The U.S. Insurance Solutions segment provides specialty benefits, such as group dental and vision insurance, group life insurance, and group and individual disability insurance, as well as administers group dental, disability, and vision benefits; and individual life insurance products comprising universal, variable universal, indexed universal, and term life insurance products in the United States. It also offers insurance solutions for small and medium-sized businesses and their owners, as well as executives. Principal Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1879 and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.

About Acmat

ACMAT Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides surety bonds primarily for construction contractors in the United States. The company offers surety bonds for prime, sub-prime, specialty trade, environmental, asbestos, and lead abatement contractors, as well as for miscellaneous obligations. It also provides miscellaneous surety comprising workers’ compensation, supply, subdivision, and license and permit bonds. The company was founded in 1950 and is based in Farmington, Connecticut.