Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Key Points

• Capstone Investment Advisors acquired 34,812 Manulife Financial shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.41 million. Institutional investors collectively own 52.56% of the company.
• Manulife reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, slightly above the $0.78 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 7.3% year over year. Shares opened at $43.12, near their 52-week high of $45.33.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.485, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 4.5%. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with a $59 target price.

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 34,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,410,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 33.9% in 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its position 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 worth $204,544,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,999 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company's stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $43.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $30.20 and a 1 year high of $45.33.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. Manulife Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 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 currently 51.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MFC. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial 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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