Manulife Financial (MFC) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer GWO or MFC?

Great-West Lifeco currently has a consensus target price of C$37.38, indicating a potential downside of 3.72%. Manulife Financial has a consensus target price of C$28.17, indicating a potential upside of 8.84%. 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	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Manulife Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Is GWO or MFC more profitable?

Manulife Financial has a net margin of 52.92% compared to Great-West Lifeco's net margin of 4.31%. Manulife Financial's return on equity of 18.59% beat Great-West Lifeco's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great-West Lifeco	4.31%	9.24%	1.90%
Manulife Financial	52.92%	18.59%	0.99%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in GWO or MFC?

10.8% of Great-West Lifeco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 70.6% of Great-West Lifeco shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by company 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 stronger earnings & valuation, GWO or MFC?

Manulife Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Great-West Lifeco. Manulife Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Great-West Lifeco, 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$60.55 billion	0.60	C$2.48 billion	C$2.72	14.27
Manulife Financial	C$18.45 billion	2.60	C$9.66 billion	C$5.07	5.10

Does the media favor GWO or MFC?

In the previous week, Great-West Lifeco had 8 more articles in the media than Manulife Financial. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Great-West Lifeco and 7 mentions for Manulife Financial. Great-West Lifeco's average media sentiment score of 0.43 beat Manulife Financial's score of -0.25 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	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Manulife Financial	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more risk and volatility, GWO or MFC?

Great-West Lifeco has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manulife Financial has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor GWO or MFC?

Manulife Financial received 285 more outperform votes than Great-West Lifeco when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 68.24% of users gave Manulife Financial an outperform vote while only 39.79% of users gave Great-West Lifeco an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Great-West Lifeco	Outperform Votes 265 39.79%	Underperform Votes 401 60.21%
Manulife Financial	Outperform Votes 550 68.24%	Underperform Votes 256 31.76%

Is GWO or MFC a better dividend stock?

Great-West Lifeco pays an annual dividend of C$2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of C$1.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Great-West Lifeco pays out 76.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Manulife Financial pays out 28.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Manulife Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Manulife Financial beats Great-West Lifeco on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.