Zacks Research Downgrades Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) to Strong Sell

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MFC. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFC stock opened at $43.29 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial has a fifty-two week low of $29.70 and a fifty-two week high of $43.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Canerector Inc. grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 170,000 shares during the last quarter. Sfam LLC purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

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.