HUM vs SLF vs CNC Stock Comparison

Humana, Sun Life Financial and Centene Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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HUM Humana Inc
$415.02 +4.2% 1M +42.0% 1Y
Market cap
$49.84B
P/E
39.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$145.68B
Div. yield
0.64%
Managed Care Healthcare
2 wins
SLF Sun Life Financial Inc
$80.05 +0.2% 1M +28.5% 1Y
Market cap
$44.33B
P/E
18.8x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
4.70%
Life Insurance Financial Services
6 wins
CNC Centene Corp
$68.73 +11.2% 1M +107.3% 1Y
Market cap
$33.95B
P/E
23.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$203.90B
Div. yield
–
Managed Care Healthcare
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Sun Life Financial leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Sun Life Financial 6, Humana 2, Centene 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHUMSLFCNCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $49.84B $44.33B $33.95B HUM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 39.0x 18.8x 23.2x SLF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 48.0x 13.2x 13.6x SLF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.3% — +9.7% HUM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.9% — — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.7% 12.7% — SLF
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -2.7x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.64% 4.70% — SLF
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +42.0% +28.5% +107.3% CNC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.4%/yr +6.9%/yr -0.8%/yr SLF
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.0% 18.6% 47.4% SLF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 34/100 68/100 CNC

Percentile Scorecard

HUMSLFCNC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisHUMSLFCNC
Valuation 54 #12 of 25 21 #94 of 119 96 #2 of 25
Growth 13 #21 of 24 27 #84 of 114 61 #10 of 24
Profitability 39 #15 of 24 43 #63 of 110 70 #8 of 24
Financial Health 68 #9 of 26 33 #74 of 110 44 #15 of 26
Shareholder Returns 36 #10 of 15 48 #56 of 106 –
Overall 42 34 68
  • HUM ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • SLF ranked among 126 companies in Insurance
  • CNC ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodHUMSLFCNCSPY
1 month +4.2%+0.2%+11.2% -0.2%
3 months +6.7%-4.8%+7.2% +3.9%
6 months +80.7%+12.4%+38.7% +8.2%
Year to date +62.0%+28.3%+67.0% +12.9%
1 year +42.0%+28.5%+107.3% +12.3%
3 years -18.7%+78.9%+1.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year -6.7%+21.4%+0.6% +23.3%
5 years -11.2%+39.5%-4.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year -2.4%+6.9%-0.8% +10.9%
10 years +138.3%+138.5%+116.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year +9.1%+9.1%+8.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureHUMSLFCNCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.0%18.6%47.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 52.7%20.0%47.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.570.370.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.871.542.26 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -70.9%-33.0%-74.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.3%-4.8%-3.5% -1.2%
52-week high $433.45$84.07$71.21 $779.14
52-week low $163.67$57.60$31.80 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleHUMSLFCNC
P/E now vs peer median 39.0xmedian 23.9x 18.8xmedian 10.5x 23.2xmedian 23.9x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 0.3x —median 1.4x 0.2xmedian 0.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.6xmedian 13.4x —median 7.6x —median 13.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.6xmedian 15.5x 13.5xmedian 8.5x 3.4xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 2.5x 2.4xmedian 1.5x 1.5xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median -1.45median 1.34 7.18median 0.53 -1.74median 1.34

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsHUMSLFCNC
Revenue $145.68B – $203.90B
Gross profit $19.89B – –
Operating income $2.71B – $1.01B
Net income $1.29B $2.57B $1.46B
Free cash flow $1.95B $3.28B –
EPS (diluted) $10.56 $4.23 $2.93
Cash & equivalents $6.89B – $20.70B
Total debt $54.48B $6.42B –
Shares (diluted) 121.14M 566.00M 497.64M
Enterprise value -$37.96B $2.43B $33.95B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricHUMSLFCNC
P/E 39.0x 18.8x 23.2x
P/FCF 25.6x 13.5x 3.4x
P/Operating cash flow 19.6x 13.1x 7.2x
P/S 0.3x – 0.2x
P/B 2.6x 2.4x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 2.6x 2.9x 1.9x
EV/EBITDA 11.6x – –
EV/EBIT 15.0x 9.9x –
EV/Revenue 0.3x – 0.2x
EV/FCF 20.8x 12.2x –
EV/Operating cash flow 16.0x 11.7x 7.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.45 7.18 -1.74

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHUMSLFCNC
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.3% – 9.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 13.8% – 10.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.5% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.6% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -17.9% – 117.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -15.3% – -29.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -18.3% 4.7% 127.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -27.4% 6.5% -15.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -19.1% 4.1% 127.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -26.9% 2.6% -13.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -13.4% 8.5% 16.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -42.3% 13.0% -9.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -20.1% 8.6% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -45.6% 9.5% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHUMSLFCNC
Gross margin 13.7% – –
EBITDA margin 2.4% – –
Operating margin 1.9% – –
Pretax margin 1.1% – –
Net margin 0.9% – –
FCF margin 1.3% – –
Operating cash flow margin 1.7% – 2.3%
Return on equity 6.8% 13.9% 6.5%
Return on assets 2.3% 0.9% 1.8%
Return on invested capital 6.7% 12.7% –
Return on capital employed 8.1% – –
Asset turnover 2.6x – 2.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 1.3x 3.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% – 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHUMSLFCNC
Debt / assets 25.5% 2.1% –
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA -2.7x – –
Debt / FCF 7.5x 2.0x –
Liabilities / assets 66.3% 93.7% 71.9%
Equity / assets 33.7% 6.3% 28.1%
Interest coverage 3.8x 5.6x –
Current ratio 1.7x – 1.2x
Quick ratio 1.3x – –
Cash ratio 1.0x – –
Altman Z-score 4.60 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHUMSLFCNC
Dividend yield 0.6% 4.7% –
Net buyback yield 0.3% -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 0.9% 4.6% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusHUMSLFCNC
Forward P/E 48.0xFY2026 13.2xFY2026 13.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.65FY2026 $6.06FY2026 $5.04FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -49.5%FY2026 +11.6%FY2026 +142.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +84.9% -3.1% +11.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $166.70BFY2026 $6.17BFY2026 $202.57BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.6%FY2026 -4.1%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.6% +29.2% -0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHUMSLFCNC
Held by institutions 98.6% 44.7% 97.9%
Institutions holding 927 490 999
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +1.3% +2.1%
Institutions buying 558 256 568
Institutions selling 266 130 334
Buyers to sellers 2.10 1.97 1.70

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

HUMSLFCNC
HUM 1.00 0.14 0.49
SLF 0.14 1.00 0.06
CNC 0.49 0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HUM, SLF and CNC?

Humana (HUM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Humana (HUM) $49.84B, Sun Life Financial (SLF) $44.33B, Centene (CNC) $33.95B.

Which stock is cheaper, HUM, SLF and CNC?

Sun Life Financial (SLF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Humana (HUM) 39.0x, Sun Life Financial (SLF) 18.8x, Centene (CNC) 23.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sun Life Financial (SLF) is cheapest (Humana (HUM) 48.0x, Sun Life Financial (SLF) 13.2x, Centene (CNC) 13.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Humana (HUM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Humana (HUM) +18.3%, Centene (CNC) +9.7%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Centene (CNC) returned the most: Humana (HUM) +42.0%, Sun Life Financial (SLF) +28.5%, Centene (CNC) +107.3%. Over five years, Sun Life Financial (SLF) compounded fastest (Humana (HUM) -2.4%/yr, Sun Life Financial (SLF) +6.9%/yr, Centene (CNC) -0.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Sun Life Financial (SLF) has the highest dividend yield: Humana (HUM) 0.64%, Sun Life Financial (SLF) 4.70%. Centene (CNC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sun Life Financial (SLF) has been the steadiest (Humana (HUM) 48.0%, Sun Life Financial (SLF) 18.6%, Centene (CNC) 47.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HUM, SLF and CNC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Sun Life Financial (SLF) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.