Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Invests $181.09 Million in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec acquired 4.47 million Manulife Financial shares worth approximately $181.1 million, representing about 0.27% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 52.56% of MFC.
• Manulife reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, slightly above the $0.78 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 7.3% year over year. Analysts expect full-year EPS of approximately $3.03.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.485 per share, or $1.94 annualized, yielding about 4.5%. Analysts maintain an overall “Buy” rating, with an average target price of $59 versus the stock’s $43.23 opening price.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,466,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $181,094,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned about 0.27% of Manulife Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MFC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 18,222 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 814.3% in the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $204,544,000 after buying 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 Stock Up 0.1%

MFC stock opened at $43.23 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $71.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $29.94 and a twelve month high of $45.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.62 and a 200-day moving average of $39.02.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Manulife Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average 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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