Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Rating Increased to Outperform at CIBC

CIBC upgraded shares of Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has C$58.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of C$50.00.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. National Bankshares raised their price objective 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. UBS Group raised shares of Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$54.00 to C$57.00 in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Desjardins set a C$55.00 price target on shares of Manulife Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$52.25.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at C$51.48 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$48.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$45.10. The stock has a market cap of C$86.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01. Manulife Financial has a 1-year low of C$36.93 and a 1-year high of C$51.80.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported C$1.16 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 3.6104452 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Manulife Financial

In other news, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.25, for a total value of C$1,208,566.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.95, for a total transaction of C$4,332,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 53,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,618,580.25. This represents a 62.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Manulife Financial

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.