PEAK6 LLC Makes New Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

PEAK6 LLC bought a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $699,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sfam LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $42.54 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $70.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $29.77 and a 12 month high of $45.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.90.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 51.49%.

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.