Contrasting Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) & Fairfax Financial (OTCMKTS:FRFHF)

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) and Fairfax Financial (OTCMKTS:FRFHF) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Sun Life Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Fairfax Financial pays an annual dividend of $15.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Sun Life Financial pays out 64.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fairfax Financial pays out 7.3% 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. Sun Life Financial has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Sun Life Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sun Life Financial and Fairfax Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sun Life Financial	$29.99 billion	1.62	$2.68 billion	$4.28	18.59
Fairfax Financial	$31.59 billion	1.06	$4.77 billion	$204.10	7.91

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Sun Life Financial and Fairfax Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sun Life Financial	1	5	5	1	2.50
Fairfax Financial	0	3	3	0	2.50

Sun Life Financial currently has a consensus target price of $98.67, indicating a potential upside of 24.03%. Given Sun Life Financial’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Sun Life Financial is more favorable than Fairfax Financial.

Risk and Volatility

Sun Life Financial has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fairfax Financial has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sun Life Financial and Fairfax Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sun Life Financial	7.66%	17.96%	1.08%
Fairfax Financial	13.83%	14.72%	4.16%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

52.3% of Sun Life Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.4% of Fairfax Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Sun Life Financial beats Fairfax Financial on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc., a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance. The company also provides advice for financial planning and retirement planning services; investments products, such as mutual funds, segregated funds, and annuities; and asset and investment management products consisting of pooled funds, institutional portfolios, and pension funds. In addition, it offers real estate services; manages equity capital in various private and listed funds, as well as mezzanine debt, middle market direct lending, high-yield bonds, and syndicated loans; and operates as an investment grade fixed income investor, real estate investment management advisor, infrastructure investment manager, and alternative credit investment manager. The company was formerly known as Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc. and changed its name to Sun Life Financial Inc. in July 2003. Sun Life Financial Inc. was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Fairfax Financial

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, and investment management services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Property and Casualty Insurance and Reinsurance, Life insurance and Run-off, and Non-Insurance Companies segments. It insures against losses to property from fire, explosion, earthquake, windstorm, flood, terrorism, boiler explosion, machinery breakdown, and construction defects, as well as underwrites automobile, commercial and personal property, and crop insurance. The company also offers workers' compensation, automobile, employer's liability, accident and health, medical malpractice, professional liability, and umbrella coverage insurance products; marine, aerospace, surety risk, and other risks and liabilities insurance products; and reinsurance products. In addition, it franchises, owns, and operates restaurants; retails sports lifestyle products; provides integrated travel and travel-related financial services, as well as advanced digital tools for agriculture; owns and operates holiday resorts; originates, processes, and distributes value-added pulses and staple foods; develops, manages, and invests in hospitality real estate. The company was formerly known as Markel Financial Holdings Limited and changed its name to Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited in 1987. Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited was incorporated in 1951 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.