Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.50.

MFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. CIBC upgraded Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th.

Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MFC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 25.8% during the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 46,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,477,000 after buying an additional 9,478 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 496,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,845,000 after acquiring an additional 14,088 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,364,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 16,609.6% in the 2nd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,519,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Manulife Financial by 211.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 51,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 34,902 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:MFC opened at $37.28 on Thursday. Manulife Financial has a 52 week low of $25.92 and a 52 week high of $37.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.10. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.The company had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 26th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.56%.

About Manulife Financial

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.