DGS Capital Management LLC Buys 2,260 Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,260 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth $406,195,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 694.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,984,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482,367 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Manulife Financial in the first quarter worth $52,082,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,706,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,402,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,032,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 103.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,377,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,713,488 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Desjardins raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.33.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 1.0 %

MFC traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 677,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,312,119. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.08. Manulife Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $17.07 and a 1 year high of $25.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.96 and its 200-day moving average is $21.34.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The business had revenue of $10.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.298 per share. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.24%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 61.66%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.