Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Upgraded to “Outperform” at CIBC

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) was upgraded by equities researchers at CIBC from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a C$58.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of C$50.00. CIBC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 12.91% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upgraded Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Desjardins set a C$55.00 target price on Manulife Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, National Bankshares boosted 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 report on Monday, October 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$52.25.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:MFC traded up C$0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching C$51.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,979,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,303,516. Manulife Financial has a 1-year low of C$36.93 and a 1-year high of C$51.80. The firm has a market cap of C$86.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$48.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$45.06.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported C$1.16 earnings per share 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 for the quarter. Analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 3.6104452 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Shamus Edward Weiland sold 88,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 53,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,618,580.25. This represents a 62.33% decrease in their position. Also, 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 transaction of C$1,208,566.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,510,948.75. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.