Manulife FinancialMFC.TOCOMMENTJun 14, 2016Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jul 23, 2026. Market Open.
Both fairly highly ranked, and moving up, in the Canadian equity universe. The banks have been dominating the top of the rankings, and the insurers have been catching up. TD is slightly higher ranked, with a bit better performance.
When two stocks are looking good and under accumulation, and you can't decide, you can always split your position between the two of them.
A bit overbought. Chart looks healthy, with higher highs and higher lows. 200-day MA continues to move higher. Financials in Canada are, in general, getting a little overvalued. Be cautious, be selective.
Trading over 2x book value now. Not a lot of earnings growth, about 8-9% (still decent, but not explosive).
In the doldrums following the financial crisis. Recently, taken the lead. The opportunity in this name has, perhaps, been fully realized.
He needs either a macro or company-specific hiccup to happen before putting new $$ to work in the market. At that time, you may want to take profits on this and deploy elsewhere. Watch out for headline contagion risk from private credit issues.
All the financials have come off slightly, especially in the insurance space.
MFC has come down right to its 200-day MA, so you could argue it's got a bit more upside. High-quality name. Beta is double that of GWO, but no greater than the TSX itself. Scale is better than GWO. This one looks more attractive. He wouldn't switch, total return won't be that different. Yield is 4.3%.
GWO has a lower beta, so it hasn't moved as much as MFC. Good quality assets, very steady earnings growth. Yield is 4.3%.
He might own this, not sure. Recently, he predicted it would pull back to $45 which it appears to be doing. If you're a long-term holder for the 4.1% dividend, you're not in danger unless this falls below $45. If it bounces at $45, he would add more. But if you sold some shares now, that's a good idea.
This has been under a little pressure over the last few weeks after a nice rally off the lows in February. A concern for the life sector is, what is going on with interest rates. There is $10 trillion or more of sovereign debt that now pays a negative yield. A lot of the returns that insurance companies get to pay their obligations, comes from buying and holding sovereign debt. When interest rates are very low, it makes it hard for them to generate the kind of return they need to meet their obligations. As a company, it is doing a great job and growing in multiple markets, but right now it is being negatively impacted by a little cloud over the insurance group. Prefers something that would benefit in the current environment.