$MFC.TO

Canadian Life Companies Split Corp. At The Market Equity Program Renewed

Manulife Financial to Issue S$500 Million Notes Offering Due 2036

Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) on Tuesday priced an offering in Singapore of S$500 million of 2.880% subordinated notes due June 4, 2036.The offering will qualify as Tier 2 capital for Manulife. The notes will bear interest at a fixed rate of 2.880% until June 4, 2031 and then at a rate of 0.931% over the five-year Singapore Overnight Rate Average Overnight Indexed Swap (SORA OIS) rate.Manulife may, with OSFI approval, redeem the notes in whole, but not in part, on June 4, 2031, a statement said.Manulife shares were last seen down $0.57 to $53.30 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.Price: $53.43, Change: $-0.43, Percent Change: -0.80%

Manulife Announces Leadership Changes Across Canada, Hong Kong, AI Operations

Manulife Financial (MFC.TO, MFC) after trade Thursday announced changes to its executive and senior leadership teams across Canada, Hong Kong, AI and Data, and Technology and Operations.Among changes to Manulife's leadership team effective as of July 1, 2026: Patrick Graham has been appointed President & CEO, Manulife Canada, joining the executive leadership team. He most recently served as CEO, Manulife Hong Kong and Macau.Wilton Kee will succeed Graham as CEO, Manulife Hong Kong & Macau, subject to regulatory approval.As Manulife continues to scale responsible AI adoption and value creation across the enterprise, Jodie Wallis, Chief AI Officer, will now report directly to Phil Witherington, President and CEO of Manulife.Earlier this year, Rahul Joshi shared his intent to retire as Chief Operations Officer. Shamus Weiland has been appointed to an expanded remit as Chief Technology & Operations Officer."These important leadership changes ensure we have the right capabilities, both at the enterprise level and in our key markets of Canada and Hong Kong, to achieve our bold ambition and deliver against our new strategic priorities," said Witherington, "As we responsibly scale AI to deliver value and improve the customer experience, it is critical that we're structured to move at pace and with operational excellence."Shares in Manulife rose $0.62 or 1.17% to $53.80 in Canada yesterday.

Manulife Announcing Dividend Rates on Non-cumulative Rate Reset Class 1 Shares Series 3 and Non-cumulative Floating Rate Class 1 Shares Series 4

CIBC Reviews Canadian Lifecos' Q1, Says Results "a Little Disappointing", Updates Price Targets on Group

The Canadian lifecos' first-quarter results were "a little disappointing", writes CIBC analyst Paul Holden, with Great-West Lifeco (GWO.TO) the only name to beat consensus EPS. Holden also updated his price targets on the shares of the group.Three lifecos experienced significant negative reactions on the day of their results (Manulife, Sun Life and iA Financial). 2027 consensus EPS for the three stocks did not change that much (-0.3% on average), but multiples declined to reflect lower earnings visibility."While there were clear weaknesses in the results for each of these three names, the overall outcome was not as bad as it initially appeared. EPS was up 8% Y/Y on average and ROE was up 90bps. Buying on weakness is a good call," Holden adds.He still recommends lifecos over banks, pointing out the expected insurance earnings increased by 9% Y/Y on average. Earnings are expected to benefit from the move in equity markets post quarter-end, while lifecos also tend to benefit from higher inflation and interest rates. P/E multiples also remain at a 15% discount to the banks.Great-West and Manulife Financial (MFC.TO)are Holden's two outperformer names. Great-West does not have any meaningful challenges that need to be addressed and there is room for EPS upside, including from a potential acquisition. He has raised his price target on the shares by $6.00 to $81.00.Asia is producing exceptional growth for Manulife, and GWAM earnings are also expected to see a big rebound in the second quarter along with U.S. insurance experience, which is off to a good start in 2026. ROE is on track for 18% in 2027, implying ~5% upside to consensus EPS, Holden calculates. Manulife is also trading at the biggest discount in the group (9%). "We believe this is the stock to buy between quarters." Manulife price target has also been raised to $61.00 from $58.00.CIBC is maintaining a neutral rating on both Sun Life (SLF.TO) and iA Financial (IAG.TO). The price target on the shares of Sun Life has been raised by $7.00 to $102.00, while iA Financial share price target has been lowered to $180.00 from $184.00.Price: $78.76, Change: $+0.61, Percent Change: +0.78%

TSX up Near 250 Points at Midday, Led by Tech and Healthcare Sectors

The Toronto Stock Exchange is up 247 points with most sectors higher midday Thursday.The best performers are info tech and healthcare, up 2.1% and 1.5%, respective.The mining sector has shed 1.8%, dragged by precious-metals prices: gold is down 0.3% and silver, down 4.5%Canada March wholesale sales (excluding petroleum and grains) rose 1.9% to $89 billion, above the 1.3% consensus forecast. Sales increased in five of the seven subsectors, led by machinery, equipment and supplies, Statistics Canada said. Wholesale sales were 3.3% higher in March than in the same month one year earlier.Canada and Alberta will meet on Friday and advance a potential pipeline to transport at least one million barrels of Alberta oil a day to new markets, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday, Reuters reports.In stocks, Manulife (MFC.TO) shares are down 6.3% to $51.16 per share with 4.4-million shares being traded, after it reported a core earnings miss after trade on Wednesday.

Manulife Financial Price Target Raised to $59.00 at National Bank

National Bank raised its price target on the shares of Manulife Financial (MFC.TO, MFC) by C$2.00 to C$59.00 and maintained its outperform rating even though the insurer reported a first-quarter core earnings miss.Manulife's first-quarter core EPS of $1.06, missed analyst Gabriel Dechaine's forecast of $1.08 and consensus of $1.10.The lifeco's U.S. segment, which reported $250 million of mortality experience losses in 2025, turned positive this quarter (as did LTC morbidity).Asia region earnings were up 22%. Aside from the segment's expected contribution to the 2027 ROE target, Dechaine notes that investors focus on sales growth as an indicator of profit growth beyond 2027. To that end, insurance sales were up 8%, including 18% growth in Hong Kong, addressing concerns that regulatory changes would hamper sales performance for an extended period, he writes.Manulfe reported $38 million of experience losses in Canada, driven by higher disability claims in the Group business. Global wealth and asset management (WAM) earnings were slightly below expectations, as net outflows were larger than expected at $4.4 billion.Price: $51.59, Change: $-3.04, Percent Change: -5.56%

Manulife Down 3% in U.S. After-Hours Trade as Reports Q1 Core Earnings Miss

Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) was last seen down 3% in New York after-hours trade after it reported a first-quarter core earnings miss on Wednesday.Core earnings rose 8% to $1.84 billion, or $1.06 per share, from $1.77 billion, or $0.99 per share, in the previous corresponding quarter. The result missed the consensus analyst expectation of $1.10 per share, according to FactSet.Manulife said Asia core earnings climbed 22%, reflecting continued business growth and the net positive impact of 2025 updates to actuarial methods and assumptions. Global wealth and asset management (WAM) core earnings increased 2%.Canada and U.S. core earnings fell 6% and 4%, respectively. Canadian core earnings were impacted by unfavorable insurance experience in Group Insurance, while U.S. earnings were affected by lower investment spreads, the company said.Core ROE was 16.5% for the quarter, an increase of 90 basis points compared with the first quarter of last year.Manulife will pay a regular quarterly dividend of $0.485 per share on June 19, to shareholders of record on May 29.Manulife shares were last seen down US$1.23, to US$38.62 after hours. They closed down $0.20, to 54.62 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Great West Lifeco Remains Top Pick in CIBC Q1 LIfecos Preview

CIBC Capital Markets expects Canadian life insurers to post double-digit year over year earnings per share growth on average.Great West Lifeco (GWO.TO) remains top pick. Analyst Paul Holden expects the company to post the highest Y/Y EPS growth in the first quarter (19%). There is potential upside from a number of growth levers at Empower and a strong demand backdrop for capital solutions, he adds. An Empower bolt-on acquisition is a potential catalyst with estimated EPS accretion of ~6%. The stock is trading at a 6% premium to the group average on P/E, consistent with the historical premium.Manulife (MFC.TO) is another outperformer. Holden is looking for a better quarter from the company, noting that Manulife printed strong headline results last quarter but disappointed the Street on some KPIs. "We look for an improvement in U.S. insurance experience, Asia APE sales and GWAM net flows as potential upside drivers."Holden also wants to see double-digit EPS growth and continued progress towards the 2027 18% ROE objective. Manulife is trading at a 5% discount to the group average P/E and recent history suggests an in-line multiple is possible, he adds.CIBC lifted its Q1 EPS estimates for Great West Lifeco by 2%, Manulife and Sun Life by 1% each due to FX and company-specific factors, and decreased the estimate for iA Financial (IAG.TO) by 5% due to seasonality for U.S. dealer services and auto finance."As a group the stocks have not traded all that great YTD (+2.8% on average), and the discount to the banks on P/E now stands at 15% (five-year average is 11%)," Holden writes. He favors lifecos over banks given the valuation discount and strong fundamentals.Price: $70.45, Change: $+1.18, Percent Change: +1.70%