Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) was upgraded by analysts at National Bank Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Manulife Financial’s Q1 2018 earnings at $0.52 EPS, Q2 2018 earnings at $0.53 EPS, Q3 2018 earnings at $0.54 EPS, FY2018 earnings at $2.13 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $2.34 EPS.
Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.
Manulife Financial (NYSE MFC) traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.79. 1,610,000 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,060,000. Manulife Financial has a one year low of $16.62 and a one year high of $22.16. The company has a market cap of $43,200.00, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.33.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lourd Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,997,000. Baldwin Brothers Inc. MA grew its position in Manulife Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers Inc. MA now owns 338,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,065,000 after purchasing an additional 3,605 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in Manulife Financial by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 7,483,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,416,000 after purchasing an additional 118,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 46.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) is a holding company of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (MLI), which is a life insurance company, and John Hancock Reassurance Company Ltd. (JHRECO), which is a reinsurance company. The Company operates as a financial services company with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States.
