Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$55.63.

MFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$54.00 to C$58.00 in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Desjardins set a C$55.00 price target on shares of Manulife Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price target on Manulife Financial from C$60.00 to C$59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Manulife Financial

In other Manulife Financial news, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider 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 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.95, for a total transaction of C$4,332,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 53,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,618,580.25. This represents a 62.33% decrease in their position. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.2%

TSE:MFC opened at C$50.64 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is C$50.73 and its 200 day moving average is C$46.88. Manulife Financial has a 12 month low of C$36.93 and a 12 month high of C$52.97. The company has a market capitalization of C$84.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported C$1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$22.03 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 12.52%. On average, research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 3.6104452 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 57.33%.

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.