Twinbeech Capital LP Acquires New Holdings in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 134.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 39,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 22,444 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,812,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $699,948,000 after buying an additional 902,466 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 158,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after buying an additional 8,011 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 212,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,523,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $45.67.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE MFC opened at $31.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.58. Manulife Financial Co. has a one year low of $23.30 and a one year high of $33.07.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.01). Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $0.3194 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 63.87%.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.