Principal Financial Group (PFG) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MFC or PFG?

Manulife Financial received 455 more outperform votes than Principal Financial Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 68.05% of users gave Manulife Financial an outperform vote while only 8.20% of users gave Principal Financial Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Manulife Financial	Outperform Votes 460 68.05%	Underperform Votes 216 31.95%
Principal Financial Group	Outperform Votes 5 8.20%	Underperform Votes 56 91.80%

Is MFC or PFG more profitable?

Manulife Financial has a net margin of 10.08% compared to Principal Financial Group's net margin of 9.74%. Manulife Financial's return on equity of 15.98% beat Principal Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manulife Financial	10.08%	15.98%	0.76%
Principal Financial Group	9.74%	14.68%	0.52%

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, 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	$45.58B	1.16	$4.05B	$2.07	14.88
Principal Financial Group	$16.13B	1.03	$1.57B	$4.67	15.88

Which has more volatility and risk, MFC or PFG?

Manulife Financial has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Principal Financial Group has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MFC or PFG a better dividend stock?

Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Principal Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $3.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Manulife Financial pays out 58.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Principal Financial Group pays out 65.1% 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.

Do insiders and institutionals 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 stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to MFC or PFG?

In the previous week, Principal Financial Group had 16 more articles in the media than Manulife Financial. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for Principal Financial Group and 9 mentions for Manulife Financial. Manulife Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.53 beat Principal Financial Group's score of 0.88 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)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Principal Financial Group	15 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer MFC or PFG?

Manulife Financial presently has a consensus price target of $45.50, suggesting a potential upside of 47.70%. Principal Financial Group has a consensus price target of $83.31, suggesting a potential upside of 12.30%. Given Manulife Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly 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)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Principal Financial Group	4 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Summary

Manulife Financial beats Principal Financial Group on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.