Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires Shares of 2,757,900 Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,757,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $100,147,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MFC. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 18,222 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 13.1% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 814.3% in the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,544,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699,999 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MFC stock opened at $40.75 on Tuesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12-month low of $29.70 and a 12-month high of $40.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.43 and a 200-day moving average of $36.81. The company has a market capitalization of $68.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS 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 company had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s 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.