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

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

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MFC. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group began coverage on Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

MFC opened at $37.39 on Thursday. Manulife Financial has a fifty-two week low of $25.92 and a fifty-two week high of $37.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.62.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.10. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Manulife Financial will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MFC. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 18,222 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 908.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 7,034 shares during the period. Finally, Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 16,609.6% in the 2nd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,519,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510,314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.