Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Position Lessened by Lincluden Management Ltd.

Lincluden Management Ltd. decreased its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 695,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 166,407 shares during the period. Manulife Financial comprises 2.7% of Lincluden Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Lincluden Management Ltd.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $25,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MFC. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 18,222 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 814.3% in the 2nd quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,544,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699,999 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MFC shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $38.56 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $35.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.49. The company has a market capitalization of $64.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 0.82. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1-year low of $29.70 and a 1-year high of $39.22.

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, beating 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 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. On average, research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 63.96%.

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.