Amundi Buys 154,723 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Amundi lifted its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,025,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 154,723 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.24% of Manulife Financial worth $166,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial during the second quarter worth about $26,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company's stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE MFC opened at $43.36 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $43.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.41. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $30.52 and a 1 year high of $45.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Manulife Financial's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MFC. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Manulife Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canada-based financial services company that provides insurance, wealth management and asset management products to individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its offerings include life and health insurance, retirement solutions, investment products, group benefits and long-term care coverage.

Manulife serves customers primarily in Canada, the United States and Asia. In the United States, its insurance and retirement businesses operate under the John Hancock brand.

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