Analysts Set Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) Target Price at $35.00

Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.67.

MFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,289,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,806,508,000 after buying an additional 727,764 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,066,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $823,074,000 after acquiring an additional 7,766,870 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 14.8% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,803,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $749,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720,693 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 3.2% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 24,057,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $640,411,000 after purchasing an additional 750,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth $473,568,000. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $25.87 on Friday. Manulife Financial has a twelve month low of $17.07 and a twelve month high of $27.51. The stock has a market cap of $46.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $9.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.95 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.28%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.86%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.