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

Key Points

• Manulife Financial Co. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with two hold recommendations and five buy recommendations.
• The average 12-month price target for the stock is C$47.75, reflecting recent valuation adjustments from various brokerages.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.0% based on a payout ratio of 54.19%.

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC - Get Free Report) NYSE: MFC has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$47.75.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MFC shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$51.00 to C$49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, National Bankshares lowered their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$47.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Manulife Financial

In other news, insider Paul Lorentz sold 178,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.90, for a total value of C$7,476,007.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 79,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,349,067. This represents a 69.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold 179,582 shares of company stock valued at $7,516,321 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.6%

TSE:MFC opened at C$43.57 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of C$73.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.98. Manulife Financial has a 12 month low of C$36.93 and a 12 month high of C$46.42. The business's 50-day moving average is C$42.39 and its 200 day moving average is C$42.55.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

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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