GWO vs. MFC, L, SLF, PRU, CIA, ALS, STC, CNC, ROOT, and PIH
Should you be buying Great-West Lifeco stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Great-West Lifeco include Manulife Financial (MFC), Loblaw Companies (L), Sun Life Financial (SLF), Perseus Mining (PRU), Champion Iron (CIA), Altius Minerals (ALS), Sangoma Technologies (STC), Canada Nickel (CNC), Roots (ROOT), and 8002 (PIH.TO) (PIH). These companies are all part of the "insurance" industry.
Great-West Lifeco vs. Its Competitors
Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) and Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) are both large-cap financial services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.
Great-West Lifeco has a net margin of 16.06% compared to Manulife Financial's net margin of 12.52%. Great-West Lifeco's return on equity of 14.81% beat Manulife Financial's return on equity.
60.2% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.0% of Great-West Lifeco shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 70.7% of Great-West Lifeco shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
In the previous week, Great-West Lifeco had 5 more articles in the media than Manulife Financial. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Great-West Lifeco and 2 mentions for Manulife Financial. Manulife Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.58 beat Great-West Lifeco's score of 0.20 indicating that Manulife Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Manulife Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Great-West Lifeco. Great-West Lifeco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Manulife Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of C$1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Great-West Lifeco pays an annual dividend of C$2.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Manulife Financial pays out 49.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Great-West Lifeco pays out 50.8% 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 presently has a consensus target price of C$48.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.31%. Great-West Lifeco has a consensus target price of C$55.56, indicating a potential upside of 11.13%. Given Manulife Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Manulife Financial is more favorable than Great-West Lifeco.
Manulife Financial has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great-West Lifeco has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Manulife Financial beats Great-West Lifeco on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding GWO and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of TSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Great-West Lifeco Competitors List
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This page (TSE:GWO) was last updated on 7/3/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
