Aegon (AEG) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate MFC or AEG?

Manulife Financial presently has a consensus target price of $48.50, indicating a potential upside of 51.75%. Given Manulife Financial's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Manulife Financial is more favorable than Aegon.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manulife Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Aegon	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.25

Is MFC or AEG a better dividend stock?

Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Aegon pays an annual dividend of $0.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Manulife Financial pays out 66.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Aegon pays out 38.5% 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. Aegon is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in MFC or AEG?

52.6% of Manulife Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.3% of Aegon shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor MFC or AEG?

In the previous week, Manulife Financial had 5 more articles in the media than Aegon. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Manulife Financial and 10 mentions for Aegon. Manulife Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat Aegon's score of -0.09 indicating that Manulife Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Manulife Financial	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Aegon	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is MFC or AEG more profitable?

Manulife Financial has a net margin of 9.58% compared to Aegon's net margin of 0.00%. Manulife Financial's return on equity of 15.84% beat Aegon's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manulife Financial	9.58%	15.84%	0.75%
Aegon	N/A	N/A	N/A

Which has better earnings and valuation, MFC or AEG?

Manulife Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Aegon. Aegon is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Manulife Financial, 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	$44.71B	1.22	$4.11B	$1.91	16.73
Aegon	$10.65B	1.50	$744.48M	$0.96	7.54

Which has more risk and volatility, MFC or AEG?

Manulife Financial has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aegon has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Manulife Financial beats Aegon on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.