Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$53.13.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. National Bankshares boosted their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. CIBC raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Desjardins set a C$55.00 price objective on shares of Manulife Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at C$50.65 on Friday. Manulife Financial has a 12-month low of C$36.93 and a 12-month high of C$52.42. The stock has a market capitalization of C$84.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$49.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$45.77.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported C$1.16 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$26.23 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 12.52%. On average, analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 3.6104452 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Manulife Financial

In related news, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.25, for a total value of C$1,208,566.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,315 shares in the company, valued at C$1,510,948.75. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. Also, insider Shamus Edward Weiland sold 88,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.95, for a total value of C$4,332,075.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 53,495 shares in the company, valued at C$2,618,580.25. This trade represents a 62.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife provides life insurance and wealth management products and services to individuals and group customers in Canada, the United States, and Asia. Manulife is one of Canada’s Big Three Life Insurance companies (the other two are Sun Life and Great West Life). As of Dec. 31, 2021, Manulife reported assets under management or administration of about CAD $1.4 trillion.