Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Grows Stock Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 891,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,300 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned 0.05% of Manulife Financial worth $27,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 144.4% in the third quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MFC. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price target on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $34.93 on Tuesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1-year low of $25.92 and a 1-year high of $38.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.18. The stock has a market cap of $58.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $11.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 9.18%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.51%.

Manulife Financial Profile

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.