Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 1,271,491 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,738,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,271,491 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $241,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MFC. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 144.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at $33.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $56.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $36.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.26. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $25.92 and a one year high of $38.72.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 9.18%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial 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.