Morgan Stanley has adjusted its price target for Manulife Financial (MFC, Financial), lowering it to C$43 from the previous C$47, while maintaining an Equal Weight rating on the company's shares. This revision comes as the firm reviews its outlook across its life insurance coverage.
The investment bank's analysis indicated a 3% decrease in the first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) estimates on average, as compared to previous forecasts. Additionally, projections for the 2025 EPS have been trimmed by 4%. These adjustments vary across the different companies under coverage.
In particular, companies with a focus on underwriting, which generally have less exposure to the volatility of equity markets, saw relatively smaller changes to estimates. However, even for these firms, estimates have been reduced slightly, as they are predicted to encounter a somewhat more difficult operational landscape, according to the analyst's group preview.
