Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) Buy, Sell or Hold

Manulife Financial (MFC.TO)

61.50

-0.03 (0.05%)

as of Sep 24, 2026, 8:00:00 pm Market Open.

1632 watching

COMMENT

Is China hurting MFC-T? He owned MFC-T going into the 2008 crisis. But when the management announced they had taken on undue risk, he exited. They have never really reemerged from this. They were too exposed to equity markets back then, and decided to exit equities just as the market rallied to all time highs. He thinks there are better opportunities out there -- like SLF-T.

BUY

The short-seller raising the lawsuit is an old issue; he strongly doubts this lawsuit will hurt MFC. MFC is cheaper than its peers, trading at 8x. He sees 8% growth and dividend growth. Their only issue is their John Hancock purchase. They're growing in Asia. Won't hurt you long-term. Very cheap now. He likes it here.

BUY

He is encouraged by the new CEO's moves in the last year. They get a good chunk of earnings form wealth management in Asia. He could potentially add to it in the future.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Jan 04/18, Down 20%) Weathered a perfect storm in 2018 including a short seller. Will discuss this in his Top Picks.

TOP PICK

Broader sector rotation into dividend stocks will benefit financials and lifecos. MFC has had a nice bounce off $18 and should perform well this year. He epxects an interest rate increase that will benefit MFC (he doesn't see an inverted yield curve this year). The short-seller allegations against them were really tenuous and should be resolved soon. MFC is trading at book value and pays a nearly 5% dividend. (Analysts’ price target is $28.25)

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Jan 23/18, Down 20%) A disappointment, but so have all the insurers. Trading at a "buy" valuation. Would buy for new clients. Manulife is exposed to Asian economy, which is slowing, so there may be an opportunity to buy when the fourth quarter reports. Extremely well capitalized. May see disposal of assets. Lots of strength going forward.

BUY

He has a target price of $31 on it. It is frustrating. There are fears for their business with China; fears of higher interest rates; fears of MFC-T changing it policy. When you build a fortress balance sheet your growth comes down. Eventually the market will catch on to its strong points. 5% yield vs. 4.4% on SLF-T as it has a higher perceived risk, being stuck in Canada.

DON'T BUY

At the bottom of his list. Insurers are hard to analyze. Only ones they ever own are Berkshire Hathaway and Markel. Leaves this to smarter investors. Management has done a great job trying to diversify.

BUY ON WEAKNESS

He thinks it is superb value. His models shows 200% upside potential. Has a nice dividend yield well covered. Despite all this the stock is falling giving him a short term sell technically reaching $16. He likes the stock fundamentally but technically not. All insurance companies look like this.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Nov 02/17, Down 27%) All insurers have pulled back because interest rates won't rise as much as expected. Down to 9x earnings with a 5% yield. Valuations are now stunningly low. MFC has Asian operations, but the stock isn't down because of that. It won't stay down at this price.

WEAK BUY

He bought a couple of weeks ago. 8 times core operating earnings. The balance sheet is in better shape. They fixed a lot of their problems and you still have growth in Asia. There is still financial market risk.

DON'T BUY

He thinks financials are facing challenged with rising interest rates. There has been a recent bearish technical analysis, making him overall cautious on the stock. He would not be a buyer at this time.

WEAK BUY

The lifecos in Canada have not done well this year. We saw a breakdown in this one this month. We see rising rates and this should help MFC-T. We have seen a substantial pull down in MFC-T and it tends to do well until April each year.

COMMENT

General opinion of the sector The insurance group had run up earlier in the year as longer term interest rates were expected to rise. However, as short term rates have risen faster this has taken the wind out of the sails. There is still more upside in rates and with yields of 5%, it is a good long term holding. The MFC-T lawsuit over long term contracts will create uncertainty.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Sep 26/18, Down 20%) Bought it as an oversold candidate. It's broken down like other stocks. "Old support becomes new resistance," so when stock returns, people start selling.

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Manulife Financial (MFC.TO)