Principal Financial Group (PFG) Competitors

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) and Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Which has better earnings and valuation, PFG or MFC?

Manulife Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Principal Financial Group. Manulife Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Principal Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Principal Financial Group	$15.13B	1.24	$1.57B	$4.97	17.01
Manulife Financial	$38.90B	1.41	$4.11B	$2.24	14.46

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of PFG or MFC?

75.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.6% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is PFG or MFC more profitable?

Manulife Financial has a net margin of 10.46% compared to Principal Financial Group's net margin of 7.53%. Manulife Financial's return on equity of 15.77% beat Principal Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Principal Financial Group	7.53%	15.63%	0.55%
Manulife Financial	10.46%	15.77%	0.74%

Do analysts prefer PFG or MFC?

Manulife Financial has a consensus target price of $48.50, suggesting a potential upside of 49.71%. Given Manulife Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Manulife Financial is more favorable than Principal Financial Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Principal Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Manulife Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33

Is PFG or MFC a better dividend stock?

Principal Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Principal Financial Group pays out 62.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Manulife Financial pays out 56.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Principal Financial Group has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Manulife Financial has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Manulife Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, PFG or MFC?

Principal Financial Group has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manulife Financial has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor PFG or MFC?

In the previous week, Manulife Financial had 8 more articles in the media than Principal Financial Group. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Manulife Financial and 0 mentions for Principal Financial Group. Manulife Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.27 beat Principal Financial Group's score of 0.00 indicating that Manulife Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Principal Financial Group	Neutral
Manulife Financial	Positive

Summary

Manulife Financial beats Principal Financial Group on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.