The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that RBC Dominion Securities analyst Darko Mihelic takes a positive view on Manulife Financial's deal to reinsure over $5.8-billion of risk on its books. The Globe's David Leeder writes that accordingly, Mr. Mihelic has reaffirmed his "outperform" recommendation and $38 share target for Manulife. Analysts on average target the shares at $34.62. Mr. Mihelic says in a note: "We have a moderately positive view on the transaction as it will be mildly accretive to Manulife's core ROE and core EPS, despite the $50-million reduction in annual core earnings. This transaction in addition to its recent LTC [long-term care] reinsurance deal suggests good appetite from reinsurers, and we are hopeful more reinsurance for LTC can happen. ... This is the second reinsurance deal that Manulife entered in short order; we believe that these transactions reflect Manulife's appetite to reinsure lower ROE parts of its business and also confirms that there are reinsurers in the marketplace that have an appetite to take on these exposures. We view this as a positive as we believe that it may mean we could see Manulife enter into additional U.S. LTC reinsurance deal(s) in the future."