Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $1.85 Million Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 45,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MFC. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Canerector Inc. increased its position in Manulife Financial by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfam LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MFC opened at $43.23 on Thursday. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $29.94 and a twelve month high of $45.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.02.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 51.49%.

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.