Jupiter Topco LLC Takes $7.27 Million Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 179,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,269,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,388,259,000 after purchasing an additional 542,834 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,550,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,431,000 after purchasing an additional 728,643 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $777,229,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,479,000 after buying an additional 2,145,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,808,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,642,000 after buying an additional 1,020,490 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $42.82 on Monday. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $30.20 and a one year high of $45.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given 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%.

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.