Invst LLC Invests $1.46 Million in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Invst LLC bought a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MFC. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,709,000 after buying an additional 363,963 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its position 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 valued at $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 47,301 shares during the period. Canerector Inc. raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 170,000 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,645,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $194,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 183.7% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 7,577,711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.8%

MFC stock opened at $43.18 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.98. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $29.77 and a 52 week high of $45.33. The company has a market cap of $71.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results 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. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MFC. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research downgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.