Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Decreases Stake in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. cut its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,810,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 92,883 shares during the quarter. Manulife Financial makes up approximately 2.4% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned 0.17% of Manulife Financial worth $87,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 6,861,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,779,000 after acquiring an additional 166,076 shares during the period. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the third quarter valued at $8,021,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 642,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,207,000 after purchasing an additional 198,208 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,364,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,065,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, November 14th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $35.55 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $25.92 and a 1 year high of $38.72. The firm has a market cap of $59.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.13.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.51%.

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.