Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$49.92 and last traded at C$49.87, with a volume of 4484325 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$49.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MFC. UBS Group upgraded shares of Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$54.00 to C$57.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Desjardins set a C$55.00 target price on Manulife Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$51.25.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.6%

The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$47.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$44.32. The firm has a market capitalization of C$83.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.94.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported C$1.16 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$26.23 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 12.52%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 3.6104452 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Manulife Financial

In other news, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.25, for a total transaction of C$1,208,566.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 31,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,510,948.75. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.