Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd Makes New $16.93 Million Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Key Points

• Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe acquired 417,893 Manulife Financial shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $16.93 million. Institutional investors collectively own 52.56% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with MarketBeat reporting an overall “Buy” rating and an average price target of $59, despite one downgrade to “Strong Sell.”
• Manulife reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, slightly above expectations, while revenue increased 7.3% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.485 per share, equivalent to a 4.5% annual yield.

Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd bought a new position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 417,893 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $16,932,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Sfam LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MFC. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at $42.82 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $42.72 and its 200 day moving average is $39.08. The firm has a market cap of $71.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $30.20 and a one year high of $45.33.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last announced its 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. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 is currently 51.49%.

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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