The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Boosts Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its Manulife Financial position by 11% in the second quarter, adding 226,590 shares to hold 2.29 million shares valued at approximately $92.8 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Manulife carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $59.00; institutional investors own 52.56% of the company.
• Manulife reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, slightly ahead of estimates, while revenue rose 7.3% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.485 per share, representing a 4.5% annualized yield.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,291,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 226,590 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.14% of Manulife Financial worth $92,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Manulife Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $43.45 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $30.52 and a fifty-two week high of $45.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.83.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

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

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canada-based financial services company that provides insurance, wealth management and asset management products to individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its offerings include life and health insurance, retirement solutions, investment products, group benefits and long-term care coverage.

Manulife serves customers primarily in Canada, the United States and Asia. In the United States, its insurance and retirement businesses operate under the John Hancock brand.

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