Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $41.43 and last traded at $41.0930, with a volume of 1174533 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $40.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.85. The company has a market capitalization of $68.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 56.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 18,222 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 814.3% during 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 and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

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.