Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $41.70 and last traded at $41.57, with a volume of 144210 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MFC. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.1%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.The company had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 56.75%.

Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,317,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,843,882,000 after buying an additional 1,606,480 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,388,259,000 after acquiring an additional 542,834 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,550,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,431,000 after acquiring an additional 728,643 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $777,229,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,099 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

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.