Principal Financial Group (PFG) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend MFC or PFG?

Manulife Financial currently has a consensus target price of $48.00, suggesting a potential upside of 51.67%. Given Manulife Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Manulife Financial is more favorable than Principal Financial Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manulife Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.25
Principal Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is MFC or PFG 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
Manulife Financial	10.46%	15.77%	0.74%
Principal Financial Group	7.53%	15.63%	0.55%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, MFC or PFG?

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
Manulife Financial	$38.90B	1.38	$4.11B	$2.24	14.13
Principal Financial Group	$16.13B	1.09	$1.57B	$4.97	15.82

Which has more risk and volatility, MFC or PFG?

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

Is MFC or PFG a better dividend stock?

Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Principal Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Manulife Financial pays out 56.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Principal Financial Group pays out 62.8% 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. Manulife Financial has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Principal Financial Group has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Manulife Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

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

52.6% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Principal Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer MFC or PFG?

In the previous week, Manulife Financial had 18 more articles in the media than Principal Financial Group. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Manulife Financial and 1 mentions for Principal Financial Group. Principal Financial Group's average media sentiment score of 0.75 beat Manulife Financial's score of 0.74 indicating that Principal Financial Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Manulife Financial	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Principal Financial Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Manulife Financial beats Principal Financial Group on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.