Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.50.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MFC shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th.

Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $2,843,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606,480 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,388,259,000 after acquiring an additional 542,834 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $777,229,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

MFC stock opened at $43.64 on Monday. Manulife Financial has a one year low of $29.70 and a one year high of $43.81. The stock has a market cap of $72.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.96.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.75%.

Manulife Financial Company 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.