GWO vs. MFC, POW, ELF, SFC, TD, BMO, BN, BNS, CM, and IFC
Should you be buying Great-West Lifeco stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Great-West Lifeco include Manulife Financial (MFC), Power Co. of Canada (POW), E-L Financial (ELF), Sagicor Financial (SFC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Bank of Montreal (BMO), Brookfield (BN), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM), and Intact Financial (IFC). These companies are all part of the "financial services" sector.
Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) and Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) are both large-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, risk, valuation, dividends, community ranking, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.
Manulife Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Great-West Lifeco. Great-West Lifeco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Manulife Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
11.5% of Great-West Lifeco shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.3% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 70.6% of Great-West Lifeco shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
In the previous week, Great-West Lifeco had 4 more articles in the media than Manulife Financial. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Great-West Lifeco and 3 mentions for Manulife Financial. Great-West Lifeco's average media sentiment score of 0.33 beat Manulife Financial's score of 0.25 indicating that Great-West Lifeco is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Great-West Lifeco has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Manulife Financial has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Manulife Financial has a net margin of 18.29% compared to Great-West Lifeco's net margin of 10.05%. Great-West Lifeco's return on equity of 11.74% beat Manulife Financial's return on equity.
Manulife Financial received 297 more outperform votes than Great-West Lifeco when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.71% of users gave Manulife Financial an outperform vote while only 38.89% of users gave Great-West Lifeco an outperform vote.
Great-West Lifeco presently has a consensus price target of C$44.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.63%. Manulife Financial has a consensus price target of C$37.30, suggesting a potential upside of 5.37%. Given Great-West Lifeco's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Great-West Lifeco is more favorable than Manulife Financial.
Great-West Lifeco pays an annual dividend of C$2.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of C$1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Great-West Lifeco pays out 63.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Manulife Financial pays out 70.2% 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. Great-West Lifeco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Summary
Great-West Lifeco and Manulife Financial tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding GWO and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
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.
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