Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Has $994,000 Stock Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 173.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,380 shares during the quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 269.2% in the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 208.8% in the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 1,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. American Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, LOM Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MFC shares. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFC opened at $37.83 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $29.70 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.62 and its 200-day moving average is $36.12. The firm has a market cap of $63.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 56.35%.

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.