Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after National Bank Financial raised their price target on the stock from C$59.00 to C$69.00. National Bank Financial currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Manulife Financial traded as high as C$61.67 and last traded at C$61.40, with a volume of 876603 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$60.69.

MFC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Desjardins set a C$58.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$61.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$61.00 to C$69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, TD lifted their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$58.00 to C$65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$62.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anthony Alex Silva sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$53.17, for a total transaction of C$58,487.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,075 shares in the company, valued at C$376,177.75. This represents a 13.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Eileen Cloherty sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$53.45, for a total transaction of C$347,425.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$182,371.40. This trade represents a 65.58% decrease in their position. Insiders sold a total of 136,834 shares of company stock worth $7,311,659 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$102.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$56.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$52.50.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported C$1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 11.97% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business had revenue of C$2.15 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 3.6104452 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services provider that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better by providing financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com. One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports more than ten million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance and annuities.