Burkett Asset Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Burkett Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 140,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,122,000. Manulife Financial comprises about 5.2% of Burkett Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Manulife Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,317,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,843,882,000 after buying an additional 1,606,480 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Manulife Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,388,259,000 after buying an additional 542,834 shares during the last quarter. Canerector Inc. raised its position in Manulife Financial by 4,445.8% during the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 28,184,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $877,932,000 after buying an additional 27,564,000 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Manulife Financial by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,822,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $866,649,000 after buying an additional 5,671,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter worth $777,229,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at $39.80 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1-year low of $29.70 and a 1-year high of $40.40. The company has a market cap of $66.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.73.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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