Great-West Lifeco (GWO) Competitors

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) and Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) are both large-cap financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Is GWO or MFC more profitable?

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.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great-West Lifeco	16.06%	14.81%	0.73%
Manulife Financial	12.52%	11.75%	0.55%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor GWO or MFC?

Manulife Financial received 301 more outperform votes than Great-West Lifeco when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.71% of users gave Manulife Financial an outperform vote while only 38.15% of users gave Great-West Lifeco an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Great-West Lifeco	Outperform Votes 272 38.15%	Underperform Votes 441 61.85%
Manulife Financial	Outperform Votes 573 65.71%	Underperform Votes 299 34.29%

Is GWO or MFC a better dividend stock?

Great-West Lifeco pays an annual dividend of C$2.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of C$1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Great-West Lifeco pays out 50.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Manulife Financial pays out 49.8% 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.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, GWO or MFC?

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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great-West Lifeco	C$25.31B	1.89	C$4.07B	C$4.37	11.73
Manulife Financial	C$45.06B	1.72	C$5.64B	C$3.21	13.76

Which has more volatility and risk, GWO or MFC?

Great-West Lifeco has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manulife Financial has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to GWO or MFC?

In the previous week, Manulife Financial had 9 more articles in the media than Great-West Lifeco. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Manulife Financial and 14 mentions for Great-West Lifeco. Great-West Lifeco's average media sentiment score of -0.06 beat Manulife Financial's score of -0.10 indicating that Great-West Lifeco is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Great-West Lifeco	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Manulife Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do insiders & institutionals believe in GWO or MFC?

11.0% of Great-West Lifeco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.2% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 70.7% of Great-West Lifeco shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate GWO or MFC?

Great-West Lifeco presently has a consensus price target of C$55.56, suggesting a potential upside of 8.38%. Manulife Financial has a consensus price target of C$48.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.55%. Given Manulife Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Manulife Financial is more favorable than Great-West Lifeco.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great-West Lifeco	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Manulife Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Summary

Manulife Financial beats Great-West Lifeco on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.