Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from C$54.00 to C$58.00. The company traded as high as C$52.97 and last traded at C$52.46, with a volume of 6954754 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$51.87.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Desjardins set a C$55.00 target price on Manulife Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$52.00 price objective on shares of Manulife Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$54.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Shamus Edward Weiland sold 88,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.95, for a total value of C$4,332,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.25, for a total transaction of C$1,208,566.00. Following the sale, the insider 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 position. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$50.22 and a 200-day moving average price of C$46.13. The firm has a market cap of C$87.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported C$1.16 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$26.23 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 12.52%. As a group, research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 3.6104452 earnings per share for the current 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.