Analyzing GoHealth (NASDAQ:GOCO) and Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF)
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyGoHealth (NASDAQ:GOCO – Get Free Report) and Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and profitability.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for GoHealth and Sun Life Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| GoHealth | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Sun Life Financial | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2.45 |
GoHealth presently has a consensus price target of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 228.95%. Sun Life Financial has a consensus price target of $86.50, indicating a potential upside of 39.24%. Given GoHealth’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe GoHealth is more favorable than Sun Life Financial.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares GoHealth and Sun Life Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| GoHealth | $798.89 million | 0.05 | -$2.93 million | ($15.86) | -0.10 |
| Sun Life Financial | $38.45 billion | 0.89 | $2.68 billion | $4.40 | 14.12 |
Sun Life Financial has higher revenue and earnings than GoHealth. GoHealth 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.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
24.2% of GoHealth shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.3% of Sun Life Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 34.0% of GoHealth shares are owned 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 GoHealth and Sun Life Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| GoHealth | -26.95% | 8.00% | 1.65% |
| Sun Life Financial | 8.48% | 17.76% | 1.11% |
Risk and Volatility
GoHealth has a beta of 1.7, suggesting that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sun Life Financial has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Sun Life Financial beats GoHealth on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About GoHealth
GoHealth, Inc. operates as a health insurance marketplace and Medicare-focused digital health company in the United States. The company operates a technology platform that leverages machine-learning algorithms of insurance behavioral data to optimize the process for helping individuals find the health insurance plan for their specific needs. It provides Medicare plans, including Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and Prescription Drug, and Medicare Special Needs Plans. The company also offers partner marketing services. It sells its products through carriers and online platform, as well as independent and external agencies. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
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.