L vs. MFC, SLF, GWO, PRU, CIA, ALS, STC, CNC, PIH, and ROOT
Should you be buying Loblaw Companies stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Loblaw Companies include Manulife Financial (MFC), Sun Life Financial (SLF), Great-West Lifeco (GWO), Perseus Mining (PRU), Champion Iron (CIA), Altius Minerals (ALS), Sangoma Technologies (STC), Canada Nickel (CNC), 8002 (PIH.TO) (PIH), and Roots (ROOT). These companies are all part of the "insurance" industry.
Loblaw Companies vs. Its Competitors
Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) and Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) are both large-cap insurance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.
Manulife Financial has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Loblaw Companies has a beta of 0.17, meaning that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Manulife Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Loblaw Companies. Manulife Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Loblaw Companies, 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%. Loblaw Companies pays an annual dividend of C$2.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Manulife Financial pays out 49.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Loblaw Companies pays out 27.8% 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.
60.2% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.7% of Loblaw Companies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 53.8% of Loblaw Companies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
In the previous week, Loblaw Companies had 19 more articles in the media than Manulife Financial. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Loblaw Companies and 1 mentions for Manulife Financial. Loblaw Companies' average media sentiment score of 0.57 beat Manulife Financial's score of 0.48 indicating that Loblaw Companies is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Manulife Financial presently has a consensus target price of C$47.88, suggesting a potential upside of 11.60%. Loblaw Companies has a consensus target price of C$244.50, suggesting a potential upside of 10.04%. Given Manulife Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Manulife Financial is more favorable than Loblaw Companies.
Manulife Financial has a net margin of 12.52% compared to Loblaw Companies' net margin of 3.71%. Loblaw Companies' return on equity of 19.90% beat Manulife Financial's return on equity.
Summary
Loblaw Companies beats Manulife Financial on 10 of the 19 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 L and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia 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.
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This page (TSE:L) was last updated on 7/25/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff