Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Makes New $495.84 Million Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 12,238,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $495,841,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.74% of Manulife Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Group AG raised its position in Manulife Financial by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,709,000 after acquiring an additional 363,963 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 1,092.1% in the fourth quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 51,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 47,301 shares during the last quarter. Canerector Inc. grew its position 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 last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,154,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,577,711 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.8%

MFC stock opened at $43.18 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $29.77 and a 52-week high of $45.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 51.49%.

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.