Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Stock Price Breaks Below Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.75 and traded as low as $42.85. Manulife Financial shares last traded at $43.19, with a volume of 1,851,374 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MFC shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Manulife Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.75.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.15. The stock has a market cap of $71.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.86.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.67 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.00 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of C$0.48 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 51.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the second quarter worth $594,832,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter worth about $495,841,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $430,039,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 183.7% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $402,969,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $230,451,000. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Company Profile