Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $37.74 and last traded at $37.6850, with a volume of 394580 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MFC shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $62.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.08.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.10. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.The company had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.56%.

Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MFC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 25.8% during the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 46,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 9,478 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.9% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 496,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,845,000 after purchasing an additional 14,088 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 642,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,207,000 after buying an additional 198,208 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the second quarter valued at $4,364,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 211.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 51,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after buying an additional 34,902 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a multinational insurance and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in the late 19th century as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life and health insurance, retirement and pension solutions, wealth and asset management, and group benefits.

In wealth and asset management, Manulife operates through Manulife Investment Management and offers mutual funds, segregated funds, institutional asset management, and retirement plan solutions.