Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Stock Price

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) had its price objective lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from C$54.00 to C$58.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MFC. TD Securities upped their price target on Manulife Financial from C$57.00 to C$60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group upgraded Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$52.00 target price on Manulife Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. CIBC raised Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$54.63.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of TSE MFC opened at C$52.46 on Monday. Manulife Financial has a 1-year low of C$36.93 and a 1-year high of C$52.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of C$50.28 and a 200 day moving average price of C$46.20. The stock has a market capitalization of C$87.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of C$4,332,075.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 53,495 shares in the company, valued at C$2,618,580.25. This represents a 62.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was 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 owned 31,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,510,948.75. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.