Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from C$54.00 to C$58.00. The stock traded as high as C$52.97 and last traded at C$52.46, with a volume of 6954754 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$51.87.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. CIBC raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. TD Securities boosted their target price on Manulife Financial from C$57.00 to C$60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Cibc Captl Mkts raised Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$54.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Manulife Financial news, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of Manulife Financial 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 value of C$1,208,566.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at 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 value of C$4,332,075.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 53,495 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 1.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$50.28 and a 200-day moving average price of C$46.20. The firm has a market capitalization of C$87.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01.

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

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.