Legal & General Group Plc Makes New Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,607,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $430,039,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Canerector Inc. boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at $43.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.98.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MFC shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

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.