Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $59.00 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts are broadly bullish on Manulife Financial: Eight firms give the stock an average “Buy” rating, with a consensus 12-month price target of $59.00 versus its reported $42.45 opening price.
• Manulife reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, narrowly beating the $0.78 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 7.3% year over year. Analysts expect approximately $3.00 in EPS for the current year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of C$0.48, equivalent to an annualized C$1.94 and a 4.6% yield; institutional investors own 52.56% of outstanding shares.

Shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC have been given an average rating of "Buy" by the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.00.

MFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a+)" rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $42.45 on Friday. Manulife Financial has a one year low of $31.41 and a one year high of $45.33. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $43.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.77. The stock has a market cap of $70.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Manulife Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Manulife Financial will post 3.00 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a C$0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial's payout ratio is currently 51.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MFC. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares in the last quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 99.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 27,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 13,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 5.5% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 13,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company's stock.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canadian financial services company that provides insurance, wealth and asset management, retirement solutions and employee benefits. Its offerings include life and health insurance, annuities, group benefits, mutual funds, pension products and investment management services for individuals, businesses and institutional clients.

Founded in 1887 as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife has grown into an international organization serving customers primarily in Canada, the United States and Asia.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.