Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) shares saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 10,891,205 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 426% from the previous session’s volume of 2,071,174 shares.The stock last traded at $35.8250 and had previously closed at $35.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MFC. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $59.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.00.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 9.18%.During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.51%.

Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MFC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after buying an additional 18,222 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 7.7% during the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 11,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

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.