Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC - Get Free Report) NYSE: MFC have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$48.00.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$51.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$45.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. National Bankshares cut their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$50.00 to C$49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Insider Transactions at Manulife Financial

In related news, Director Ka Ming (Kenneth) Dai sold 1,067 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.80, for a total value of C$47,801.60. Also, Senior Officer Rahim Hirji sold 17,849 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.22, for a total transaction of C$789,272.07. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,070 shares of company stock valued at $2,744,604. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of TSE MFC traded down C$0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting C$42.12. The company had a trading volume of 6,219,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,034,360. Manulife Financial has a 12 month low of C$32.87 and a 12 month high of C$46.42. The firm has a market cap of C$73.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.06. The business's 50-day simple moving average is C$42.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$43.16.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife provides life insurance and wealth management products and services to individuals and group customers in Canada, the United States, and Asia. Manulife is one of Canada's Big Three Life Insurance companies (the other two are Sun Life and Great West Life). As of Dec. 31, 2021, Manulife reported assets under management or administration of about CAD $1.4 trillion.