Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 244,000 Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 244,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,876,000. Manulife Financial accounts for approximately 6.5% of Caldwell Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hoge Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 31,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 8,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 27,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFC opened at $42.54 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $29.77 and a fifty-two week high of $45.33. The company has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.90.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.36%.

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.