Cidel Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 98.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 827,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 411,420 shares during the quarter. Manulife Financial accounts for 1.6% of Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $33,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MFC. Canerector Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 27.0% in the first quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 183.7% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,969,000 after buying an additional 7,577,711 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,645,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,191,000 after buying an additional 1,154,200 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 128,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,216,000 after buying an additional 29,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Manulife Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $882,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MFC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $43.36 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $30.52 and a 52 week high of $45.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.41. The company has a market cap of $71.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.49%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canada-based financial services company that provides insurance, wealth management and asset management products to individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its offerings include life and health insurance, retirement solutions, investment products, group benefits and long-term care coverage.

Manulife serves customers primarily in Canada, the United States and Asia. In the United States, its insurance and retirement businesses operate under the John Hancock brand.