First Trust Advisors LP Has $40.50 Million Stock Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,175,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,659 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.07% of Manulife Financial worth $40,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MFC. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sfam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $44.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $73.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.00. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $29.70 and a 52-week high of $44.13.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MFC. Zacks Research lowered Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

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.