Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Raised to Strong-Buy at Cibc Captl Mkts

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Cibc Captl Mkts from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. CIBC raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities upped their target price on Manulife Financial from C$54.00 to C$57.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$52.75.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at C$52.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of C$87.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$49.02 and a 200-day moving average price of C$45.16. Manulife Financial has a one year low of C$36.93 and a one year high of C$52.25.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported C$1.16 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$26.23 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 12.52%. Sell-side analysts predict that Manulife Financial will post 3.6104452 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Manulife Financial

In other Manulife Financial news, insider Shamus Edward Weiland sold 88,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 53,495 shares in the company, valued at C$2,618,580.25. This represents a 62.33% decrease in their position. Also, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 31,315 shares in the company, valued at C$1,510,948.75. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

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.