Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Increases Stake in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 10.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,642 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $4,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Compound Planning Inc. raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 31,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Manulife Financial by 21.1% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 15,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 2,724 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in Manulife Financial by 2.3% in the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 42,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,454,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 211,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,269,000 after buying an additional 11,808 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.3% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,175,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,496,000 after buying an additional 14,659 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $43.93 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $73.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $29.70 and a 52-week high of $44.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.11.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. The company had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.75%.

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.