Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.50.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MFC shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 18,222 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 814.3% during 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. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFC opened at $41.09 on Thursday. Manulife Financial has a 52 week low of $29.70 and a 52 week high of $41.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.51 and a 200-day moving average of $37.45.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

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

Manulife Financial Company 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.