TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Acquires 81,973 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,757,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 81,973 shares during the period. Manulife Financial comprises approximately 1.8% of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $683,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 8,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Manulife Financial by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 27,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 5.4% in the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MFC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of MFC stock opened at $44.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.96 and a 200 day moving average of $39.26. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $30.49 and a 52 week high of $45.33.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.49%.

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.