Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Receives $51.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.50.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MFC. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Americana Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $249,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 173.5% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 27,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $994,000 after purchasing an additional 17,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of MFC stock opened at $38.08 on Monday. Manulife Financial has a 12 month low of $25.92 and a 12 month high of $38.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.50. The firm has a market cap of $63.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.10. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Manulife Financial will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a multinational insurance and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in the late 19th century as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life and health insurance, retirement and pension solutions, wealth and asset management, and group benefits.

In wealth and asset management, Manulife operates through Manulife Investment Management and offers mutual funds, segregated funds, institutional asset management, and retirement plan solutions.