Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Invests $17.38 Million in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 428,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,378,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,317,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,843,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606,480 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,388,259,000 after purchasing an additional 542,834 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,550,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,431,000 after purchasing an additional 728,643 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $777,229,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MFC. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MFC opened at $42.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $29.77 and a 52 week high of $45.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.90.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Manulife Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 53.36%.

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.