Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Stock Holdings Trimmed by Spinnaker Trust

Spinnaker Trust lowered its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 76,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,477 shares during the quarter. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $3,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $777,229,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $594,832,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $495,841,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $430,039,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 183.7% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,969,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $42.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $71.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12-month low of $30.20 and a 12-month high of $45.33. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.08.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 51.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on MFC shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

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.