Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.50.

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

NYSE MFC traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $30.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 628,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,008,802. Manulife Financial has a 1-year low of $22.61 and a 1-year high of $33.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.09.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.07. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.15% and a net margin of 10.08%. The company had revenue of $9.31 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.3094 per share. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth $654,751,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 39,610,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,216,880,000 after acquiring an additional 7,053,066 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 13.5% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,063,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $829,374,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329,892 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,650,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,291,000 after acquiring an additional 2,377,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,427,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,895,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.