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

Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC - Get Free Report) NYSE: MFC have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$48.00.

Several research firms recently weighed in on MFC. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$51.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada set a C$51.00 price target on Manulife Financial and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Manulife Financial from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$50.00 to C$49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 3.2%

TSE:MFC opened at C$42.34 on Friday. Manulife Financial has a fifty-two week low of C$32.87 and a fifty-two week high of C$46.42. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is C$42.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$43.21. The stock has a market cap of C$74.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.06.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aimee Decamillo sold 9,500 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.18, for a total value of C$419,748.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 739 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$32,651.98. This trade represents a 92.78% decrease in their position. Also, Senior Officer Trevor Kreel sold 3,636 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.22, for a total value of C$160,781.74. Insiders have sold 62,070 shares of company stock valued at $2,744,604 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

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.

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