Manulife Financial (MFC) Competitors

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

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of L or MFC?

20.7% of Loblaw Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.2% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 53.8% of Loblaw Companies 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 is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend L or MFC?

Loblaw Companies presently has a consensus target price of C$236.88, suggesting a potential upside of 7.58%. Manulife Financial has a consensus target price of C$48.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.31%. Given Manulife Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Manulife Financial is more favorable than Loblaw Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Loblaw Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
Manulife Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Is L or MFC 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
Loblaw Companies	3.71%	19.90%	5.89%
Manulife Financial	12.52%	11.75%	0.55%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, L or MFC?

Manulife Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Loblaw Companies	C$60.23B	1.11	C$2.23B	C$7.37	29.89
Manulife Financial	C$45.06B	1.66	C$5.64B	C$3.21	13.30

Is L or MFC a better dividend stock?

Loblaw Companies pays an annual dividend of C$2.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of C$1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Loblaw Companies pays out 27.8% 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.

Does the media favor L or MFC?

In the previous week, Loblaw Companies had 3 more articles in the media than Manulife Financial. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Loblaw Companies and 2 mentions for Manulife Financial. Manulife Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.58 beat Loblaw Companies' score of 0.23 indicating that Manulife Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Loblaw Companies	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Manulife Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, L or MFC?

Loblaw Companies has a beta of 0.17, suggesting that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manulife Financial has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Manulife Financial beats Loblaw Companies on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.