Analysts Set Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Price Target at $59.00

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $59.00.

Several research firms have commented on MFC. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,388,259,000 after purchasing an additional 542,834 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $777,229,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,757,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $683,609,000 after acquiring an additional 81,973 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,808,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,099 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.5%

MFC opened at $44.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.92. Manulife Financial has a 1 year low of $30.52 and a 1 year high of $45.33. The stock has a market cap of $73.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 51.49%.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canada-based financial services company that provides insurance, wealth management and asset management products to individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its offerings include life and health insurance, retirement solutions, investment products, group benefits and long-term care coverage.

Manulife serves customers primarily in Canada, the United States and Asia. In the United States, its insurance and retirement businesses operate under the John Hancock brand.