Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) Receives C$66.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$66.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MFC. Scotia lifted their price target on Manulife Financial from C$61.00 to C$67.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$55.00 to C$67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD raised their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$65.00 to C$67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$61.00 to C$69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Manulife Financial from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of TSE:MFC opened at C$60.28 on Monday. Manulife Financial has a twelve month low of C$42.53 and a twelve month high of C$63.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is C$60.50 and its 200 day moving average is C$54.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.52. The company has a market cap of C$99.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.60.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported C$1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 11.62% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The company had revenue of C$20.34 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 3.6104452 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 50.14%.

Insider Transactions at Manulife Financial

In other Manulife Financial news, insider Patrick David Graham sold 6,843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$62.06, for a total transaction of C$424,676.58. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services provider that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better by providing financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com. One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports more than ten million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance and annuities.