Manulife Financial (MFC) Competitors

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

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of 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 insiders. Comparatively, 53.8% of Loblaw Companies 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 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%

Which has preferable earnings and 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	1.68	C$5.64B	C$3.21	13.43
Loblaw Companies	C$60.23B	0.88	C$2.23B	C$7.37	23.87

Which has more volatility & risk, MFC or L?

Manulife Financial has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Loblaw Companies has a beta of 0.17, suggesting that its stock price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer MFC or L?

In the previous week, Manulife Financial had 3 more articles in the media than Loblaw Companies. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Manulife Financial and 19 mentions for Loblaw Companies. Manulife Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat Loblaw Companies' score of 0.24 indicating that Manulife Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Manulife Financial	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Loblaw Companies	1 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

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 3.7%. Loblaw Companies pays an annual dividend of C$2.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. 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.

Do analysts prefer MFC or L?

Manulife Financial presently has a consensus price target of C$45.60, indicating a potential upside of 5.65%. Loblaw Companies has a consensus price target of C$199.38, indicating a potential upside of 13.35%. Given Loblaw Companies' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Loblaw Companies is more favorable than Manulife Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manulife Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
Loblaw Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

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, 66.39% of users gave Loblaw Companies an outperform vote while only 65.82% of users gave Manulife Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Manulife Financial	Outperform Votes 570 65.82%	Underperform Votes 296 34.18%
Loblaw Companies	Outperform Votes 644 66.39%	Underperform Votes 326 33.61%

Summary

Loblaw Companies beats Manulife Financial on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.