Fifth Third Bancorp Has $4.13 Million Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 27.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 102,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,782 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $4,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MFC. Hoge Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 31,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 3.3% in the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 8,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 2.4% in the second quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1.1% in the first 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. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MFC shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE MFC opened at $44.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $73.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.71. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $29.70 and a 52-week high of $45.33.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.36%.

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.