International Assets Investment Management LLC Makes New $1.85 Million Investment in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 83,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,846,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 109.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 199,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,401,000 after buying an additional 104,026 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 5,507,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,922,000 after buying an additional 446,233 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 86,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 26,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,793,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,019,000 after purchasing an additional 582,468 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Manulife Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Desjardins upgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.33.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MFC opened at $23.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.45. Manulife Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $17.07 and a 12 month high of $25.14.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 10.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.298 dividend. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

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.