Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Sets New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Manulife's shares reached a new 52-week high of $40.08 (last $39.955) on Thursday with about 1.34M shares traded, and the company has a market cap of roughly $66.8B and a P/E of 18.0.
• Wall Street maintains a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $51.50 after several upgrades and "outperform" reiterations from major banks.
• Manulife beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.80 vs. $0.76), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.485 (annualized $1.94) for a ~4.9% yield, and analysts forecast about $3.22 in EPS for the fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC's stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $40.08 and last traded at $39.9550, with a volume of 1344385 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. 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, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.6%

The firm has a market cap of $66.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.70.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 9.18%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sfam LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company's stock.

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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