Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $343,000 Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MFC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,333,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,316,162,000 after acquiring an additional 369,638 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,093,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,155,639,000 after acquiring an additional 2,289,205 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 24,425,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $760,853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,626 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 13,990,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,007,000 after acquiring an additional 937,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,447,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,747,000 after acquiring an additional 112,761 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Manulife Financial from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $47.00 target price on Manulife Financial in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.00.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MFC stock opened at $32.14 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $25.92 and a 12 month high of $33.07. The company has a market capitalization of $54.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 10.46%.The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.3199 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 56.70%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.