Intact Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Intact Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 34.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,512,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 780,970 shares during the period. Manulife Financial accounts for about 1.4% of Intact Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Intact Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of Manulife Financial worth $47,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 156.1% in the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the second quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MFC. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. CIBC raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

MFC opened at $36.97 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.03. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $25.92 and a 1 year high of $37.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 16.11%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 55.56%.

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.