Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.50.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MFC. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th.

Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canerector Inc. lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 4,445.8% during the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 28,184,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $877,932,000 after purchasing an additional 27,564,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $632,238,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted 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 buying an additional 5,699,999 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,822,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $866,649,000 after buying an additional 5,671,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 13,155.3% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 4,229,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,743,000 after acquiring an additional 4,197,592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 1.9%

MFC stock opened at $38.08 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $63.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.53. Manulife Financial has a 52 week low of $25.92 and a 52 week high of $38.72.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 26th. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.56%.

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.