SLF vs. MFC, L, GWO, PRU, CIA, ALS, STC, CNC, PIH, and ROOT
Should you be buying Sun Life Financial stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Sun Life Financial include Manulife Financial (MFC), Loblaw Companies (L), 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.
Sun Life Financial vs. Its Competitors
Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) and Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) are both large-cap financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.
31.3% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.6% of Sun Life Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Sun Life Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Manulife Financial has a beta of 0.982238, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sun Life Financial has a beta of 0.872556, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.
In the previous week, Manulife Financial had 2 more articles in the media than Sun Life Financial. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Manulife Financial and 5 mentions for Sun Life Financial. Sun Life Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat Manulife Financial's score of 0.31 indicating that Sun Life Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Manulife Financial presently has a consensus target price of C$47.75, indicating a potential upside of 10.33%. Sun Life Financial has a consensus target price of C$86.67, indicating a potential upside of 7.17%. Given Manulife Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Manulife Financial is more favorable than Sun Life Financial.
Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of C$1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Sun Life Financial pays an annual dividend of C$3.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Manulife Financial pays out 54.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sun Life Financial pays out 59.8% 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.
Manulife Financial has a net margin of 12.52% compared to Sun Life Financial's net margin of 7.58%. Sun Life Financial's return on equity of 15.69% beat Manulife Financial's return on equity.
Manulife Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Sun Life Financial. Manulife Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sun Life Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Manulife Financial beats Sun Life Financial on 10 of the 18 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 SLF and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media 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.
Sun Life Financial Competitors List
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This page (TSE:SLF) was last updated on 9/16/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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