Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Stock

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) had its price target raised by analysts at Scotiabank from C$53.00 to C$55.00 in a report released on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.34% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. CIBC raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group upgraded Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. National Bankshares lifted their target price on Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$55.25.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

MFC stock traded up C$0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching C$51.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,162,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,078,647. Manulife Financial has a 1 year low of C$36.93 and a 1 year high of C$52.97. The firm has a market capitalization of C$85.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$50.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$46.30.

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

Insider Activity at Manulife Financial

In other news, insider Shamus Edward Weiland sold 88,500 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.95, for a total value of C$4,332,075.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 53,495 shares in the company, valued at C$2,618,580.25. This trade represents a 62.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.25, for a total value of C$1,208,566.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,315 shares in the company, valued at C$1,510,948.75. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.