SLF vs RY Stock Comparison

Sun Life Financial and Royal Bank Of Canada Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SLF Sun Life Financial Inc
$79.49 -0.5% 1M +29.5% 1Y
Market cap
$45.09B
P/E
18.8x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Life Insurance Financial Services
1 win
RY Royal Bank Of Canada
$202.60 +0.3% 1M +37.1% 1Y
Market cap
$286.28B
P/E
17.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$51.37B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
7 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Royal Bank Of Canada leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Royal Bank Of Canada 7, Sun Life Financial 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSLFRYLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $45.09B $286.28B RY
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.8x 17.4x RY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.1x 16.5x SLF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +11.2% –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 31.9% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.7% 49.3% RY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -3.0x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +29.5% +37.1% RY
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +6.7%/yr +13.9%/yr RY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 18.6% 16.5% RY
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 33/100 77/100 RY

Percentile Scorecard

SLFRY

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

AxisSLFRY
Valuation 22 #93 of 119 62 #137 of 362
Growth 24 #88 of 115 68 #72 of 221
Profitability 43 #65 of 113 96 #9 of 200
Financial Health 33 #77 of 114 65 #72 of 203
Shareholder Returns 45 #59 of 107 94 #21 of 342
Overall 33 77
  • SLF ranked among 126 companies in Insurance
  • RY ranked among 370 companies in Banking

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSLFRYSPY
1 month -0.5%+0.3% -0.8%
3 months -4.2%-3.3% +3.5%
6 months +12.4%+14.7% +7.0%
Year to date +27.4%+18.8% +12.2%
1 year +29.5%+37.1% +13.0%
3 years +77.7%+159.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year +21.1%+37.4% +23.1%
5 years +38.4%+91.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year +6.7%+13.9% +11.0%
10 years +137.6%+224.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +9.0%+12.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSLFRYSPY
Volatility, 1Y 18.6%16.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.0%15.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.370.70 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.592.24 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.0%-34.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.4%-7.0% -1.8%
52-week high $84.07$217.87 $779.14
52-week low $57.60$145.41 $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.

MultipleSLFRY
P/E now vs peer median 18.7xmedian 10.6x 17.4xmedian 12.1x
P/S now vs peer median —median 1.4x 5.5xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 7.6x 0.9xmedian 5.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.4xmedian 8.6x 4.9xmedian 11.0x
P/B now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.5x 2.7xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 7.13median 0.52 1.21median 1.36

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 monthsSLFRY
Revenue – $51.37B
Net income $2.57B $16.43B
Free cash flow $3.28B $57.35B
EPS (diluted) $4.23 $11.62
Cash & equivalents – $45.78B
Total debt $6.42B $9.69B
Shares (diluted) 566.00M 1.41B
Enterprise value $3.04B -$543.76B

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
MetricSLFRY
P/E 18.7x 17.4x
P/FCF 13.4x 4.9x
P/Operating cash flow 13.0x 4.9x
P/S – 5.5x
P/B 2.3x 2.7x
P/Tangible book 2.9x 2.9x
EV/EBITDA – 0.9x
EV/EBIT 9.8x 1.0x
EV/Revenue – 1.3x
EV/FCF 12.1x 1.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.7x 1.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 7.13 1.21

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSLFRY
Revenue growth (1Y) – 11.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – –
Net income growth (1Y) 4.7% 19.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.5% 14.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 4.1% 19.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 2.6% 14.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.5% -8.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 28.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 8.6% -8.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.5% 28.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSLFRY
Gross margin – –
EBITDA margin – 140.4%
Operating margin – –
Pretax margin – 40.9%
Net margin – 31.9%
FCF margin – 111.6%
Operating cash flow margin – 111.6%
Return on equity 13.9% 15.9%
Return on assets 0.9% 0.9%
Return on invested capital 12.7% 49.3%
Return on capital employed – –
Asset turnover – 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 3.5x
Stock comp / revenue – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSLFRY
Debt / assets 2.1% 0.5%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – -3.0x
Debt / FCF 2.0x 0.2x
Liabilities / assets 93.7% 94.2%
Equity / assets 6.3% 5.8%
Interest coverage 5.6x 1.4x
Current ratio – –
Quick ratio – –
Cash ratio – –
Altman Z-score – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSLFRY
Dividend yield 4.7% 4.1%
Net buyback yield -0.1% 3.1%
Shareholder yield 4.6% 7.2%
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.

ConsensusSLFRY
Forward P/E 13.1xFY2026 16.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.06FY2026 $12.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +11.6%FY2026 +19.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -3.1% +6.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.17BFY2026 $53.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -4.1%FY2026 +11.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +29.2% +0.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSLFRY
Held by institutions 44.7% 43.8%
Institutions holding 490 984
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% +1.9%
Institutions buying 256 446
Institutions selling 130 325
Buyers to sellers 1.97 1.37

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.

SLFRY
SLF 1.00 0.43
RY 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SLF and RY?

Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sun Life Financial (SLF) $45.09B, Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) $286.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, SLF and RY?

Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Sun Life Financial (SLF) 18.8x, Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) 17.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sun Life Financial (SLF) is cheapest (Sun Life Financial (SLF) 13.1x, Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) 16.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) returned the most: Sun Life Financial (SLF) +29.5%, Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) +37.1%. Over five years, Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) compounded fastest (Sun Life Financial (SLF) +6.7%/yr, Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) +13.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) has been the steadiest (Sun Life Financial (SLF) 18.6%, Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) 16.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do SLF and RY move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.43, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, SLF and RY?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) leads on 7. 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.