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

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after TD Securities raised their price target on the stock from C$57.00 to C$60.00. The company traded as high as C$52.39 and last traded at C$52.23, with a volume of 1138740 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$51.79.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. CIBC upgraded Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Desjardins set a C$55.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, National Bankshares upped their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$53.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Manulife Financial

In related news, insider Shamus Edward Weiland sold 88,500 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 53,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,618,580.25. This trade represents a 62.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.25, for a total value of C$1,208,566.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,510,948.75. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.8%

The company has a market capitalization of C$87.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$49.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$45.34.

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

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.