Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stake in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 929,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 184,012 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.06% of Manulife Financial worth $28,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 4.3% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 8,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 20,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 4,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 53,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haven Private LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 9,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:MFC opened at $33.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $56.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.33. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $25.92 and a 52 week high of $38.72.

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

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MFC shares. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

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.