Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Boosts Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 151,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 25,999 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $4,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 2.5% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 6,861,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,779,000 after purchasing an additional 166,076 shares during the period. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,021,000. Sienna Gestion grew its position in Manulife Financial by 233.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 556,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,804,000 after purchasing an additional 389,500 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 642,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,207,000 after buying an additional 198,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,364,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Manulife Financial Stock Down 0.2%

MFC stock opened at $33.84 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.50. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $25.92 and a 52-week high of $38.72. The firm has a market cap of $56.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The firm 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 business earned $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.96%.

Manulife Financial 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.