Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Makes New $16.72 Million Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA bought a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 536,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,724,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MFC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,711,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,390,023,000 after acquiring an additional 374,615 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Manulife Financial by 5.8% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,638,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,172,922,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079,330 shares during the last quarter. Canerector Inc. raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 4,445.8% during the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 28,184,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $877,932,000 after purchasing an additional 27,564,000 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 25.6% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,822,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $866,649,000 after purchasing an additional 5,671,639 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 25,155,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $803,975,000 after purchasing an additional 730,187 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Manulife Financial Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:MFC opened at $33.75 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $25.92 and a 52 week high of $38.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 9.18%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.96%.

Manulife Financial Company 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.