Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Holdings Boosted by Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas increased its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 28.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,300 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas’ holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $9,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFC. Canerector Inc. increased its position in Manulife Financial by 4,445.8% in the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 28,184,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $877,932,000 after acquiring an additional 27,564,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth $777,229,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 814.3% in the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,544,000 after buying an additional 5,699,999 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 25.6% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,822,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $866,649,000 after buying an additional 5,671,639 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 13,155.3% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 4,229,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,743,000 after buying an additional 4,197,592 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

NYSE MFC opened at $40.75 on Tuesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $29.70 and a fifty-two week high of $40.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.81. The firm has a market cap of $68.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have 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 presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.