Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.50.

A number of research firms have weighed in on MFC. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MFC. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Canerector Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 27.0% in the first quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 170,000 shares during the period. Finally, Sfam LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of MFC stock opened at $37.83 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial has a 12 month low of $29.70 and a 12 month high of $40.40. The company has a market cap of $63.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.12.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.35%.

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.