If you just listen to TV or read the glossy magazines, it might be easy to get sucked into thinking that "insurance stocks are insurance stocks." Then again, if you're reading this, there's probably an above-average chance that you already know that there's a huge difference among reinsurance companies like RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) or Montpelier Re (NYSE:MRH), property/casualty players like Allstate (NYSE:ALL), and more life/investment-oriented players like MetLife (NYSE:MET) and Prudential (NYSE:PRU).

And those differences are important. For while I happen to think that bigger stock market rewards might lurk in the more volatile reinsurance sector today, Prudential might be a more interesting play for more conservative and long-term oriented investors.

Results for this recent quarter at Prudential looked pretty favorable. Per-share operating earnings rose about 15%, while adjusted (or normalized, if you prefer) earnings would have been up nearly 44%. And while another charge (this one for $176 million) for settling market timing issues wasn't exactly good news, management said that should be about the end of the material risks -- here's hoping it's right.

There was plenty of strength across the business this time around. The annuities business looked strong, and the individual life business is still benefiting from lower-than-expected mortality experiences. The international business, apart from Gibraltar Life, was also pretty strong and the company seems to be benefiting from its financial advisory joint venture with Wachovia (NYSE:WB).

Price is an issue here, and might be part of the reason Prudential's stock has gone basically nowhere for six months. Still, it's a high-quality operator with good earnings balance (several different ways to make money) and a pretty good balance sheet. I wouldn't necessarily look for this stock to make you very rich very quickly, but I believe an above-average level of returns on equity is the sign of a good company. As long as you have the patience to hold this for years, this could be a good option for investors looking to steer clear of the dicey neighborhoods in the insurance sector.

Interested in outstanding small-cap stocks flying under the market's radar? Montpelier Re is one of them. Join Tom Gardner and other investors like you on the Motley Fool Hidden Gems discussion boards -- yours with a free trial.

Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).