Recs

23

4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Manulife

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 145,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Canadian insurance giant Manulife Financial (NYSE: MFC  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Manulife's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Manulife facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Toronto, Canada (1887)

Market Cap

$31.0 billion

Industry

Life and health insurance

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$41.3 billion

Management

CEO Donald Guloien (since May 2009)

CFO Michael Bell (since June 2009)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

8.8%

Cash/Debt

$18.3 billion / $9.3 billion

Dividend Yield

2.8%

Competitors

MetLife (NYSE: MET  )

Sun Life Financial (NYSE: SLF  )

US Bancorp (NYSE: USB  )

CAPS Members Bullish on MFC Also Bullish on

General Electric (NYSE: GE  )

CAPS Members Bearish on MFC Also Bearish on

Aflac (NYSE: AFL  )

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS  )

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96% of the 439 members who have rated Manulife believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include iHEARTmoney and All-Star martynanasi, who is ranked in the top 1% of our community.

Early this year, iHEARTmoney singled out the stock as a solid way to gain some far-eastern exposure: "Manulife is a company with good management and more importantly has a solid base in Asian markets, a rising economy."

In a more recent pitch, martynanasi kindly informed Fools that Manulife is slowly, but surely, getting over its decision not to hedge its equity market exposure when guaranteeing its segregated fund:

Has had to dilute stock by raising bond and equity offering to shore up capital to meet requirements. Dilution has been priced fully in stock. May be stagnant over short term but with net income (profit) expect to double next year this poses well for a stock carrying [forward P/E] in low 9 territory making this a very attractive play against global financial plays.

What do you think about Manulife, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!

6 stocks you can't afford to ignore! Motley Fool co-founders David and Tom Gardner just handpicked 6 rock-solid, well-run companies they believe you need to be watching. Get the names and stock symbols right now in a FREE report from The Motley Fool. We'll add the first ticker to your personal My Watchlist, a FREE service that gives you the latest news on the companies that matter most to you. For instant access to your free report, simply enter your email address here:

Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Aflac is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.


Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Compare Brokers

Fool Disclosure

DocumentId: 1068062, ~/Articles/ArticleHandler.aspx, 2/9/2012 6:07:43 AM

Report This Comment

Use this area to report a comment that you believe is in violation of the community guidelines. Our team will review the entry and take any appropriate action.

Sending report...

Today's Market

updated 7 hours ago Sponsored by:
DOW 12,883.95 5.75 0.04%
S&P 500 1,349.96 2.91 0.22%
NASD 2,915.86 11.78 0.41%

Create My Watchlist

Go to My Watchlist

You don't seem to be following any stocks yet!

Better investing starts with a watchlist. Now you can create a personalized watchlist and get immediate access to the personalized information you need to make successful investing decisions.

Data delayed up to 5 minutes

Related Tickers

2/8/2012 4:00 PM
MFC $12.16 Down -0.01 -0.08%
Manulife Financial… CAPS Rating: ****
MET $37.69 Down -0.01 -0.03%
MetLife, Inc. CAPS Rating: ***
SLF $21.22 Up +0.12 +0.57%
Sun Life Financial… CAPS Rating: ****
USB $29.63 Up +0.18 +0.61%
US Bancorp CAPS Rating: ****
AFL $49.37 Up +0.09 +0.18%
Aflac CAPS Rating: *****
GE $19.24 Up +0.06 +0.31%
General Electric C… CAPS Rating: ****
GS $116.15 Up +0.17 +0.15%
Goldman Sachs Grou… CAPS Rating: ***

Advertisement