Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$55.63.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MFC. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$60.00 to C$59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$54.00 to C$58.00 in a research note on Monday, February 2nd.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 1.2%

Manulife Financial stock opened at C$48.45 on Thursday. Manulife Financial has a 1-year low of C$36.93 and a 1-year high of C$52.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$50.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$47.14. The company has a market capitalization of C$81.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported C$1.12 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$22.03 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 12.52% and a return on equity of 11.75%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Manulife Financial will post 3.6104452 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 57.33%.

About Manulife Financial

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.