In This Article:
For new and old investors, taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals.
Achieving those goals is made easier with the Zacks Style Scores, a unique set of guidelines that rates stocks based on popular investing methodologies, namely value, growth, and momentum. The Style Scores can help you narrow down which stocks are better for your portfolio and which ones can beat the market over the long-term.
Why Investors Should Pay Attention to This Value Stock
Finding good stocks at good prices, and discovering which companies are trading under their true value, are what value investors like to focus on. So, the Value Style Score takes into account ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, and Price/Cash Flow to highlight the most attractive and discounted stocks.
Manulife Financial (MFC)
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Manulife Financial Corporation was founded in 1887. Manulife is one of the three dominant life insurers within its domestic Canadian market and possesses rapidly growing operations in the U.S. and several Asian countries. Manulife reports earnings through six divisions and has five major operating divisions – Asia, Canada, U.S. Insurance and U.S. Wealth Management, and Corporate.
MFC sits at a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), holds a Value Style Score of A, and has a VGM Score of B. Compared to the Insurance - Life Insurance industry's P/E of 8.6X, shares of Manulife Financial are trading at a forward P/E of 9.2X. MFC also has a PEG Ratio of 0.9, a Price/Cash Flow ratio of 8.9X, and a Price/Sales ratio of 1.2X.
Value investors don't just pay attention to a company's valuation ratios; positive earnings play a crucial role, too. Four analysts revised their earnings estimate upwards in the last 60 days for fiscal 2025. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.04 to $2.92 per share. MFC has an average earnings surprise of 6%.
MFC should be on investors' short lists because of its impressive earnings and valuation fundamentals, a good Zacks Rank, and strong Value and VGM Style Scores.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Manulife Financial Corp (MFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).