Financial Analysis: American International Group (NYSE:AIG) versus AXA (OTCMKTS:AXAHY)

American International Group (NYSE:AIG) and AXA (OTCMKTS:AXAHY) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American International Group and AXA”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American International Group	$26.78 billion	1.56	$3.10 billion	$5.42	14.39
AXA	$84.92 billion	1.29	$11.08 billion	N/A	N/A

AXA has higher revenue and earnings than American International Group.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for American International Group and AXA, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American International Group	0	12	7	1	2.45
AXA	0	0	2	0	3.00

American International Group presently has a consensus price target of $86.76, suggesting a potential upside of 11.28%. Given American International Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American International Group is more favorable than AXA.

Dividends

American International Group pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. AXA pays an annual dividend of $1.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. American International Group pays out 33.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American International Group has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.6% of American International Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of AXA shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of American International Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

American International Group has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AXA has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American International Group	11.56%	9.79%	2.48%
AXA	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

American International Group beats AXA on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American International Group

American International Group, Inc. offers insurance products for commercial, institutional, and individual customers in North America and internationally. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Life and Retirement, and Other Operations. The General Insurance segment provides commercial and industrial property insurance, including business interruption and package insurance that cover exposure to made and natural disasters; general liability, environmental, commercial automobile liability, workers’ compensation, excess casualty, and crisis management insurance products; and professional liability insurance. This segment offers marine, energy-related property insurance, aviation, political risk, trade credit, trade finance, and portfolio solutions, as well as operates reinsurance business; voluntary and sponsor-paid personal accident, and supplemental health products; and personal auto and personal property insurance. Its Life and Retirement segment offers individual retirement products, including variable, fixed index, and fixed annuities, as well as retail mutual funds; group retirement products comprising record-keeping, plan administrative and compliance services, financial planning, and advisory solutions; life insurance, including term and universal life insurance; and institutional markets products, which includes wrap products, structured settlement, pension risk transfer annuities, corporate and bank-owned life insurance, high net worth, and guaranteed investment contract products. It distributes its products through a network of brokers, agents, advisors, banks, and other distributors. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About AXA

AXA SA, through its subsidiaries, provides insurance, asset management, and banking services worldwide. The company operates through six segments: France; Europe; AXA XL; Asia, Africa & EME-LATAM; AXA Investment Managers; and Transversal & Other segments It offers life and savings insurance products, such as savings and retirement, other health, and personal protection products. The company also provides property and casualty insurance products, including car, home, and personal or professional liability to individual and business clients; international insurance for large corporate clients in Europe; and marine and aviation insurance services, as well as property and casualty reinsurance products. In addition, it offers asset management services in the areas of various asset classes, including equities, bonds, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate for the group’s insurance companies and their clients, and retail and institutional clients. Further, the company provides motor, household, property and general liability, health, term life, whole life, universal life, endowment, deferred and immediate annuities, and other investment-based products for personal/individual and commercial/ group customers. AXA SA was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Paris, France.