TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Acquires 166,076 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,861,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 166,076 shares during the period. Manulife Financial accounts for approximately 1.4% of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Manulife Financial worth $215,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in Manulife Financial by 25.8% during the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 46,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 9,478 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.9% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 496,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,845,000 after buying an additional 14,088 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 642,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,207,000 after acquiring an additional 198,208 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter worth $4,364,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 211.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 51,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 34,902 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $37.77 on Thursday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $25.92 and a 12 month high of $37.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.16.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.10. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The business had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. CIBC raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

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.