Contrasting MBIA (NYSE:MBI) and Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC)

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) and MBIA (NYSE:MBI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Manulife Financial and MBIA”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Manulife Financial	$43.63 billion	1.63	$4.14 billion	$2.68	16.02
MBIA	$80.00 million	2.91	-$177.00 million	($2.89)	-1.58

Manulife Financial has higher revenue and earnings than MBIA. MBIA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Manulife Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.6% of Manulife Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.0% of MBIA shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Manulife Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.3% of MBIA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Manulife Financial and MBIA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manulife Financial	9.99%	16.68%	0.75%
MBIA	-154.26%	N/A	-1.69%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Manulife Financial and MBIA, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manulife Financial	0	1	5	2	3.12
MBIA	1	0	1	0	2.00

Manulife Financial presently has a consensus target price of $59.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.41%. MBIA has a consensus target price of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 53.01%. Given MBIA’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe MBIA is more favorable than Manulife Financial.

Volatility and Risk

Manulife Financial has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MBIA has a beta of 1.64, indicating that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Manulife Financial beats MBIA on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks. The Insurance and Annuity Products segment provides deposit and credit products; and individual life insurance, individual and group long-term care insurance, and guaranteed and partially guaranteed annuity products through multiple distribution channels, including insurance agents, brokers, banks, financial planners, and direct marketing. The Corporate and Other segment is involved in the property and casualty reinsurance businesses; and run-off reinsurance operations, including variable annuities, and accident and health. The company also manages timberland and agricultural portfolios; and engages in insurance agency, investment counseling and dealer, portfolio and mutual fund management, property and casualty insurance, and mutual fund dealer businesses. In addition, it provides integrated banking products and services. The company was incorporated in 1887 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About MBIA

MBIA Inc. provides financial guarantee insurance services to public finance markets in the United States. It operates United States (U.S.) Public Finance Insurance, and International and Structured Finance Insurance segments. The company issues financial guarantees for municipal bonds, including tax-exempt and taxable indebtedness of the U.S. political subdivisions, as well as utility districts, airports, health care institutions, higher educational facilities, housing authorities, and other similar agencies and obligations issued by private entities. It also insures the non-U.S. public finance and global structured finance, including asset-backed obligations; and sovereign-related and sub-sovereign bonds, and privately issued bonds used for the financing for utilities, toll roads, bridges, public transportation facilities, and other types of infrastructure projects, as well as offers third-party reinsurance services. MBIA Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.