Brokerages Set Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) Price Target at C$48.00

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$48.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on MFC. Barclays dropped their price target on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$45.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Manulife Financial from C$51.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. CIBC dropped their price target on Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. National Bankshares dropped their price target on Manulife Financial from C$50.00 to C$49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Manulife Financial from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.0%

TSE:MFC opened at C$42.13 on Friday. Manulife Financial has a 1-year low of C$32.87 and a 1-year high of C$46.42. The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$42.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$43.11. The firm has a market capitalization of C$73.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.06.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 19th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Rahim Hirji sold 17,849 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.22, for a total value of C$789,272.07. Also, Senior Officer Trevor Kreel sold 3,636 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.22, for a total transaction of C$160,781.74. Insiders have sold 62,070 shares of company stock worth $2,744,604 over the last ninety days. 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.