Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Makes New Investment in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 20,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $625,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $330,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,650,598 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $333,291,000 after buying an additional 2,377,338 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 36,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 13,638 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,809,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,578,000 after buying an additional 81,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $16,213,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 price objective on Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, May 19th.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:MFC traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.97. The company had a trading volume of 5,798,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,165,340. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $31.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.47. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12-month low of $23.30 and a 12-month high of $33.07.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 15.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.3194 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.02%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.