Caprock Group LLC Makes New $1.35 Million Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 43,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,346,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MFC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,336,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,440,795,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003,226 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 3.0% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 25,155,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $803,975,000 after buying an additional 730,187 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $632,238,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 19.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,008,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $453,798,000 after purchasing an additional 2,276,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 12,015,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $384,409,000 after buying an additional 567,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $36.74 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.73. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $25.92 and a 52 week high of $38.72. The company has a market cap of $61.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 9.18%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 56.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.