Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Upgraded at Cibc Captl Mkts

Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. CIBC raised Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, National Bankshares increased their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$52.75.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.0%

TSE:MFC opened at C$52.00 on Thursday. Manulife Financial has a 1-year low of C$36.93 and a 1-year high of C$52.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$49.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$45.18. The stock has a market capitalization of C$87.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Manulife Financial 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 transaction of C$1,208,566.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. Also, insider Shamus Edward Weiland sold 88,500 shares of the company’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 owned 53,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,618,580.25. The trade was a 62.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Company 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.