Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.50.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 34.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,398 shares during the last quarter. First Nebraska Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $377,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.5% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 18,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Summitry LLC boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 4.3% in the first quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 18,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 220.4% in the first quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

MFC stock opened at $38.75 on Friday. Manulife Financial has a one year low of $29.70 and a one year high of $40.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.79 and a 200-day moving average of $36.57.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 56.75%.

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.