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

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) had its price objective raised by Scotiabank from C$53.00 to C$55.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$54.00 to C$58.00 in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upgraded Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$57.00 to C$60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$52.00 price target on shares of Manulife Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$55.25.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFC opened at C$51.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$85.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is C$50.41 and its 200 day moving average is C$46.34. Manulife Financial has a fifty-two week low of C$36.93 and a fifty-two week high of C$52.97.

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

Insider Activity

In other Manulife Financial news, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 31,315 shares in the company, valued at C$1,510,948.75. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. Also, insider Shamus Edward Weiland sold 88,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 53,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,618,580.25. This trade represents 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.