Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Invests $1.07 Million in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 26,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,070,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at $69,212,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $821,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $893,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,571,000. Finally, Expressive Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $718,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $42.54 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $29.77 and a 12 month high of $45.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.90.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. The company 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%.Manulife Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MFC. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

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.