Cormark Forecasts Reduced Earnings for Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) – Stock analysts at Cormark dropped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Manulife Financial in a research report issued on Wednesday, April 30th. Cormark analyst L. Persaud now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $4.16 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $4.18. The consensus estimate for Manulife Financial’s current full-year earnings is $3.61 per share. Cormark also issued estimates for Manulife Financial’s FY2026 earnings at $4.53 EPS.

MFC has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Manulife Financial from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada set a C$51.00 price target on Manulife Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$45.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$46.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFC stock opened at C$43.57 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$42.14 and a 200-day moving average of C$43.12. The stock has a market cap of C$76.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.06. Manulife Financial has a 52-week low of C$32.55 and a 52-week high of C$46.42.

Insider Activity at Manulife Financial

In related news, Director Brooks Tingle sold 3,866 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$43.43, for a total value of C$167,882.21. Also, Senior Officer Steve Finch sold 11,598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$43.43, for a total transaction of C$503,646.63. Insiders sold a total of 18,683 shares of company stock valued at $816,102 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

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.