Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Stock Bought by Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,963,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,850 shares during the quarter. Manulife Financial accounts for 3.3% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. owned 0.36% of Manulife Financial worth $254,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the second quarter worth $26,000. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MFC shares. Scotiabank lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Zacks Research raised Manulife Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings cut Manulife Financial from a “buy (a+)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.75.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of MFC opened at $43.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $72.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.86. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1-year low of $32.58 and a 1-year high of $46.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.30.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.06. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 16.75%. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of C$0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 54.55%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canadian financial services company that provides insurance, wealth management and investment services to individuals and businesses. Its offerings include life and health insurance, group benefits, retirement solutions and investment products. Founded in 1887 as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife serves customers in Canada, the United States and Asia. In the United States, it operates primarily under the John Hancock name. The company also provides asset management services to institutional and retail clients through Manulife Investment Management, which offers investment strategies across a range of asset classes.