Commerce Bank Makes New Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Key Points

• Commerce Bank acquired 33,151 shares of Manulife Financial during the second quarter, worth approximately $1.34 million. Institutional investors collectively own 52.56% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and a $59.00 average price target; RBC recently raised its target to $67.00.
• Manulife reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, slightly above estimates, while revenue increased 7.3% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.485 per share, representing an annualized yield of about 4.5%.

Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 33,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,343,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $145,709,000 after purchasing an additional 363,963 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1,092.1% in the 4th quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 51,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 47,301 shares in the last quarter. Canerector Inc. lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,645,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $194,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 183.7% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $402,969,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. 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 research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.8%

MFC stock opened at $43.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $71.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $29.77 and a twelve month high of $45.33. The company's 50 day moving average is $42.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.98.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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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