Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases 12,642 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 136,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,642 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $4,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Sfam LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Manulife Financial Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of MFC stock opened at $43.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.11. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $29.70 and a 52 week high of $44.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.The company had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.485 per share. 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 is 56.75%.

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.