Financial Review: GAINSCO (OTCMKTS:GANS) versus Kemper (NYSE:KMPR)

GAINSCO (OTCMKTS:GANS) and Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for GAINSCO and Kemper, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GAINSCO	0	0	0	0	0.00
Kemper	0	0	4	1	3.20

Kemper has a consensus target price of $81.60, indicating a potential upside of 23.95%. Given Kemper’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Kemper is more favorable than GAINSCO.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GAINSCO	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kemper	$4.63 billion	0.91	$317.80 million	$4.91	13.41

Kemper has higher revenue and earnings than GAINSCO.

Profitability

This table compares GAINSCO and Kemper’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GAINSCO	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kemper	6.85%	14.11%	3.01%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.2% of Kemper shares are owned by institutional investors. 73.5% of GAINSCO shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Kemper shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Kemper beats GAINSCO on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GAINSCO

GAINSCO, Inc. operates as a property and casualty insurance holding company. The company offers non-standard personal auto products, including coverage for third party liability, bodily injury, and physical damage, as well as collision and coverage for theft, physical damage, and other perils for an insured's vehicle. It is also involved in automotive sales and service, auto racing, and investment activities. The company offers its automobile insurance products under the GAINSCO Auto Insurance brand through independent partner agents and Website comparison shopping places. GAINSCO, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

About Kemper

Kemper Corporation, a diversified insurance holding company, engages in the provision of insurance products to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property & Casualty Insurance, and Life & Health Insurance. It provides preferred and specialty automobile, homeowners, renters, fire, umbrella, general liability, and various other property and casualty insurance to individuals, as well as commercial automobile insurance to businesses. The company also offers life insurance, including permanent and term insurance; and supplemental accident and health insurance products, such as Medicare supplement insurance, fixed hospital indemnity, home health care, specified disease, and accident-only plans to individuals in rural, suburban, and urban areas. It distributes its products through independent agents and brokers. The company was formerly known as Unitrin, Inc. and changed its name to Kemper Corporation in August 2011. Kemper Corporation was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.