Nykredit A S Buys New Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 314,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,752,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 1,092.1% in the 4th quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 51,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 47,301 shares in the last quarter. Canerector Inc. grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 27.0% during the first quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 183.7% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,969,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577,711 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 25.7% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,645,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 29.6% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 128,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,216,000 after buying an additional 29,390 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.6%

MFC opened at $44.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.04 and a 200 day moving average of $39.29. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $30.49 and a 12 month high of $45.33. The firm has a market cap of $73.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

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.