Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Sells 245,031 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. lessened its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,565,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 245,031 shares during the period. Manulife Financial makes up approximately 2.6% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $93,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MFC. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Sfam LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Blueline Advisors LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.2%

MFC opened at $40.25 on Monday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12-month low of $29.70 and a 12-month high of $40.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.77. The company has a market capitalization of $67.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.75%.

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.