Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$55.63.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MFC. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Manulife Financial from C$54.00 to C$58.00 in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Manulife Financial from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price target on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th.

Insider Transactions at Manulife Financial

In other Manulife Financial news, Director Adam Thomas Wise sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$46.47, for a total transaction of C$162,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,497 shares in the company, valued at C$116,035.59. This trade represents a 58.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of TSE:MFC opened at C$46.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.80, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 2.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$49.52 and a 200 day moving average price of C$47.67. Manulife Financial has a fifty-two week low of C$36.93 and a fifty-two week high of C$52.97. The firm has a market cap of C$77.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.79.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported C$1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$22.03 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.91% and a return on equity of 11.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 3.6104452 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th were given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 57.33%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services provider that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better by providing financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com. One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports more than ten million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance and annuities.