Alberta Investment Management Corp Sells 53,455 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp. reduced its Manulife Financial stake by 2.3%, selling 53,455 shares and retaining 2.27 million shares valued at approximately $92 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 52.56% of the stock.
• Manulife reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, slightly exceeding estimates, while revenue increased 7.3% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.485, representing a 4.4% annualized yield.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with the stock carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and a $59 average price target, compared with its $44.45 opening price.

Alberta Investment Management Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,269,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 53,455 shares during the quarter. Manulife Financial accounts for 0.5% of Alberta Investment Management Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned approximately 0.14% of Manulife Financial worth $91,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Manulife Financial by 179.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 18,222 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 814.3% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $204,544,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,999 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.0%

MFC opened at $44.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1-year low of $29.70 and a 1-year high of $45.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.72.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Manulife Financial's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MFC shares. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a multinational insurance and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in the late 19th century as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life and health insurance, retirement and pension solutions, wealth and asset management, and group benefits.

In wealth and asset management, Manulife operates through Manulife Investment Management and offers mutual funds, segregated funds, institutional asset management, and retirement plan solutions.

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