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

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC - Get Free Report) NYSE: MFC has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$48.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reduced 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$45.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. National Bankshares dropped their target price on 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. TD Securities lifted their price target on Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, CIBC reduced their price target on Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aimee Decamillo sold 9,500 shares of the business's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 739 shares in the company, valued at C$32,651.98. The trade was a 92.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Brooks Tingle sold 3,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$43.43, for a total transaction of C$167,882.21. Insiders sold a total of 77,312 shares of company stock valued at $3,409,273 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.5%

TSE MFC opened at C$44.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of C$78.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.06. Manulife Financial has a 12 month low of C$32.87 and a 12 month high of C$46.42. The company's 50-day moving average price is C$42.36 and its 200-day moving average price is C$43.31.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Manulife Financial's payout ratio is 49.79%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.