Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MFC. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $43.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.68. Manulife Financial has a 12-month low of $29.70 and a 12-month high of $43.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.The company had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Manulife Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MFC. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,709,000 after acquiring an additional 363,963 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1,092.1% in the 4th quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 51,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 47,301 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,351,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,401,000 after purchasing an additional 839,820 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,317,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,843,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 161.9% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,866,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153,792 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.