Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Sells 222,501 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,569,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 222,501 shares during the period. Manulife Financial makes up about 0.0% of Cardinal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.27% of Manulife Financial worth $165,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,711,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,390,023,000 after purchasing an additional 374,615 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,638,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,172,922,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079,330 shares during the period. Canerector Inc. grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 4,445.8% during the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 28,184,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $877,932,000 after acquiring an additional 27,564,000 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 25.6% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,822,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $866,649,000 after acquiring an additional 5,671,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 5.7% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,541,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $359,662,000 after acquiring an additional 621,093 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $36.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.83. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $26.77 and a 12 month high of $38.72.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.43%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 63.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.