13,505 Shares in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Purchased by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,709,000 after buying an additional 363,963 shares in the last quarter. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,021,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,541,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $359,662,000 after acquiring an additional 621,093 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 233.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 556,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,804,000 after acquiring an additional 389,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $879,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $38.44 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.46 and a 200 day moving average of $36.47. The company has a market capitalization of $64.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1-year low of $29.70 and a 1-year high of $40.40.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

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.