Lincluden Management Ltd. Cuts Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Lincluden Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 861,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 76,800 shares during the period. Manulife Financial makes up approximately 3.0% of Lincluden Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Lincluden Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of Manulife Financial worth $26,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its position in Manulife Financial by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 8,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 9.0% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 4,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 53,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Haven Private LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 4.0% during the third quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 9,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 4.0% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 11,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at $34.11 on Tuesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $25.92 and a one year high of $38.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.41 and its 200 day moving average is $34.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MFC. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

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.