Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Decreases Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA trimmed its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 361,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 72,531 shares during the quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $12,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Sfam LLC purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Blueline Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MFC opened at $41.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $29.70 and a twelve month high of $41.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.32.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 56.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MFC. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.