Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Stake Raised by Sienna Gestion

Sienna Gestion boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 604,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,800 shares during the quarter. Manulife Financial accounts for about 1.3% of Sienna Gestion’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $21,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 101,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,699,000 after buying an additional 2,121 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 38,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,407,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 796,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,876,000 after buying an additional 33,688 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 931.1% during the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,124,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,778,000 after buying an additional 3,724,519 shares during the period. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 13,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 3,077 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE MFC opened at $40.75 on Tuesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $29.70 and a 1 year high of $40.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.81. The company has a market cap of $68.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 56.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

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.