Great-West Lifeco (GWO) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MFC or GWO?

Manulife Financial received 303 more outperform votes than Great-West Lifeco when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.24% of users gave Manulife Financial an outperform vote while only 38.27% of users gave Great-West Lifeco an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Manulife Financial	Outperform Votes 569 66.24%	Underperform Votes 290 33.76%
Great-West Lifeco	Outperform Votes 266 38.27%	Underperform Votes 429 61.73%

Which has more risk and volatility, MFC or GWO?

Manulife Financial has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great-West Lifeco has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to MFC or GWO?

In the previous week, Manulife Financial had 9 more articles in the media than Great-West Lifeco. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Manulife Financial and 7 mentions for Great-West Lifeco. Great-West Lifeco's average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat Manulife Financial's score of 0.66 indicating that Great-West Lifeco is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Manulife Financial	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Great-West Lifeco	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer MFC or GWO?

Manulife Financial presently has a consensus price target of C$42.27, indicating a potential downside of 8.20%. Great-West Lifeco has a consensus price target of C$47.63, indicating a potential downside of 2.33%. Given Great-West Lifeco's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Great-West Lifeco is more favorable than Manulife Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manulife Financial	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.69
Great-West Lifeco	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is MFC or GWO a better dividend stock?

Manulife Financial pays an annual dividend of C$1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Great-West Lifeco pays an annual dividend of C$2.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial pays out 68.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Great-West Lifeco pays out 55.8% 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. Great-West Lifeco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, MFC or GWO?

Manulife Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Manulife Financial	C$28.48B	2.86	C$4.24B	C$2.35	19.60
Great-West Lifeco	C$33.04B	1.38	C$3.72B	C$3.98	12.25

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

60.2% of Manulife Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.0% of Great-West Lifeco shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 70.7% of Great-West Lifeco shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is MFC or GWO more profitable?

Manulife Financial has a net margin of 17.34% compared to Great-West Lifeco's net margin of 11.32%. Great-West Lifeco's return on equity of 13.21% beat Manulife Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manulife Financial	17.34%	10.41%	0.55%
Great-West Lifeco	11.32%	13.21%	0.73%

Summary

Manulife Financial beats Great-West Lifeco on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.