Arjuna Capital Acquires Shares of 54,994 Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Arjuna Capital acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 54,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,713,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 156.1% in the second quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MFC. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. CIBC upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $38.11 on Monday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $25.92 and a 52-week high of $38.63. The company has a market capitalization of $63.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.36 and a 200-day moving average of $33.29.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 26th. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.56%.

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.