Critical Contrast: Vericity (VERY) vs. The Competition

Vericity (NASDAQ:VERY) is one of 46 publicly-traded companies in the “Insurance – Life” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Vericity to similar companies based on the strength of its profitability, earnings, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Vericity and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vericity	0	0	0	0	N/A
Vericity Competitors	139	906	1171	33	2.49

As a group, “Insurance – Life” companies have a potential upside of 79.57%. Given Vericity’s rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vericity has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Volatility and Risk

Vericity has a beta of 0.14, meaning that its share price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vericity’s rivals have a beta of 0.76, meaning that their average share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.9% of Vericity shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.5% of shares of all “Insurance – Life” companies are owned by institutional investors. 10.4% of Vericity shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 28.7% of shares of all “Insurance – Life” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Vericity and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vericity	-5.57%	-9.13%	-1.23%
Vericity Competitors	6.75%	10.53%	1.06%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vericity and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vericity	$177.57 million	-$9.89 million	-16.65
Vericity Competitors	$14.39 billion	$1.19 billion	-47.56

Vericity’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Vericity. Vericity is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Vericity rivals beat Vericity on 9 of the 10 factors compared.

About Vericity

Vericity, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides life insurance protection products for the middle American market. The company operates through Agency and Insurance segments. The Agency segment sells life insurance products for unaffiliated insurance companies through its call center distribution platform, as well as through its independent agents and other marketing organizations. This segment is also involved in the insurance lead sale activities through its eCoverage web presence. The Insurance segment provides term life, accidental death, and final expense products. Vericity, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois.