Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Manulife Financial hit a new 52-week high of $45.95 in Wednesday trading, up from its previous close of $44.78.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Buy,” with a $58.75 price target, although Scotiabank recently downgraded the stock to “Sector Perform.”
• In its latest reported quarter, Manulife earned $0.79 per share, slightly beating the $0.78 analyst estimate; revenue rose 7.3% year over year.

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC's stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $45.95 and last traded at $45.3120, with a volume of 87,950 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MFC. Scotiabank cut Manulife Financial from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Manulife Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.75.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 2.3%

The company has a market cap of $75.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $43.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.04.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 25.6% during the third quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 48.5% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 28,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 9,209 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 6.6% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,090,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 140,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,963,000 after purchasing an additional 7,710 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canadian financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1887 as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife has grown into a diversified provider of insurance, wealth and asset management, and retirement solutions. Its common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MFC.

Manulife offers life, health, and property and casualty insurance, along with retirement products, investment solutions, financial advice, and institutional asset management services.

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