Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after National Bank Financial raised their price target on the stock from C$59.00 to C$69.00. National Bank Financial currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Manulife Financial traded as high as C$61.67 and last traded at C$61.40, with a volume of 876603 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$60.69.

MFC has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$61.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$61.00 to C$69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Desjardins set a C$58.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, TD increased their price target on Manulife Financial from C$58.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$62.00.

Insider Activity

In other Manulife Financial news, Director Eileen Cloherty sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$53.45, for a total value of C$347,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$182,371.40. This trade represents a 65.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Rahul Madhav Joshi sold 25,000 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$54.29, for a total transaction of C$1,357,250.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 77,185 shares in the company, valued at C$4,190,373.65. This represents a 24.47% decrease in their position. Insiders sold 136,834 shares of company stock worth $7,311,659 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$56.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$52.44. The stock has a market cap of C$101.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.71.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported C$1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 11.97%.The business had revenue of C$2.15 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Co. will post 3.6104452 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

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.