Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Sells 102,672 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Key Points

• Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA reduced its Manulife Financial position by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 102,672 shares and leaving it with 434,204 shares valued at about $15.75 million.
• Manulife Financial has continued to attract mostly positive analyst coverage, with a consensus rating of Buy and a target price of $51.50. Recent notes from RBC and Scotiabank reiterated outperform ratings, though Weiss Ratings slightly downgraded its view.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.485 per share, or $1.94 annualized, for a yield of about 4.8%. It also reported quarterly EPS of $0.80, topping estimates, while the stock traded near its 52-week high of $40.09.

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA cut its stake in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 434,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 102,672 shares during the quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA's holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $15,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 269.2% during the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. American Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 208.8% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 1,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC grew its position in Manulife Financial by 144.4% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Manulife Financial from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

MFC stock opened at $40.01 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.75. The company has a market capitalization of $66.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 0.87. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $29.70 and a 52-week high of $40.09.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.43%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Manulife Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Manulife Financial's payout ratio is 63.96%.

About Manulife Financial

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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