United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 11,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $777,229,000. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $594,832,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $495,841,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $430,039,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 183.7% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $402,969,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577,711 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research cut Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.8%

MFC stock opened at $42.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $70.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $30.20 and a twelve month high of $45.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.12.

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

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 51.49%.

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.