Manulife Financial (MFC) Competitors

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

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%

Is MFC or L a better dividend stock?

Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of C$1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. 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.

Which has more risk & volatility, MFC or L?

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.

Does the media prefer MFC or L?

In the previous week, Loblaw Companies had 1 more articles in the media than Manulife Financial. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Loblaw Companies and 3 mentions for Manulife Financial. Loblaw Companies' average media sentiment score of 0.40 beat Manulife Financial's score of 0.24 indicating that Loblaw Companies is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Which has preferable 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$45.06B	1.64	C$5.64B	C$3.21	13.15
Loblaw Companies	C$60.23B	1.12	C$2.23B	C$7.37	30.38

Do analysts prefer MFC or L?

Manulife Financial currently has a consensus price target of C$46.10, indicating a potential upside of 9.11%. Loblaw Companies has a consensus price target of C$207.38, indicating a potential downside of 7.34%. Given Manulife Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Manulife Financial is more favorable than Loblaw Companies.

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)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88
Loblaw Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MFC or L?

Loblaw Companies received 74 more outperform votes than Manulife Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.22% of users gave Loblaw Companies an outperform vote while only 65.71% of users gave Manulife Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Manulife Financial	Outperform Votes 571 65.71%	Underperform Votes 298 34.29%
Loblaw Companies	Outperform Votes 645 66.22%	Underperform Votes 329 33.78%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in MFC or L?

60.2% of Manulife Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.7% of Loblaw Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 53.8% of Loblaw Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Loblaw Companies beats Manulife Financial on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.