SG Trading Solutions LLC Takes $468,000 Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

SG Trading Solutions LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 12,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 18,222 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 814.3% in the 2nd quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,544,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,999 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at $40.66 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $29.70 and a fifty-two week high of $41.43. The company has a market capitalization of $67.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.96.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has an average 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.