PEAK6 LLC Takes $699,000 Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

PEAK6 LLC purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (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 firm purchased 17,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $699,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Haverford Trust Co acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at $353,000. First Nebraska Trust Co acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $444,000. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $594,832,000. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,343,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,630,000. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $42.54 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.90. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1-year low of $29.77 and a 1-year high of $45.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MFC shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Company 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.