Manulife Financial (MFC) Competitors

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) and Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) are both large-cap insurance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Is MFC or L a better dividend stock?

Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of C$1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Loblaw Companies pays an annual dividend of C$0.53 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Manulife Financial pays out 54.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Loblaw Companies pays out 26.1% 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.

Which has better earnings & valuation, MFC or L?

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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Manulife Financial	-C$10.77B	-6.96	C$5.64B	C$3.10	14.33
Loblaw Companies	C$62.29B	1.08	C$2.23B	C$2.02	28.00

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

32.9% of Manulife Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.0% of Loblaw Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 53.8% of Loblaw Companies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, MFC or L?

Manulife Financial has a beta of 0.927708, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Loblaw Companies has a beta of 0.288064, meaning that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MFC or L more profitable?

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.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manulife Financial	12.52%	11.75%	0.55%
Loblaw Companies	3.71%	19.90%	5.89%

Do analysts recommend MFC or L?

Manulife Financial presently has a consensus price target of C$48.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.21%. Loblaw Companies has a consensus price target of C$199.25, indicating a potential upside of 252.65%. Given Loblaw Companies' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Loblaw Companies is more favorable than Manulife Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manulife Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71
Loblaw Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Does the media prefer MFC or L?

In the previous week, Manulife Financial had 4 more articles in the media than Loblaw Companies. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Manulife Financial and 5 mentions for Loblaw Companies. Manulife Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.55 beat Loblaw Companies' score of -0.10 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	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Loblaw Companies	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Loblaw Companies beats Manulife Financial on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.