Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Bought by Evergreen Capital Management LLC

Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 91.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 49,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,451 shares during the quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $1,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 269.2% during the 4th quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. American Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 208.8% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 1,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 144.4% in the third quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE MFC opened at $38.28 on Thursday. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $29.66 and a one year high of $39.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25 and a beta of 0.82.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The business had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 63.96%.

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.