Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 7,807,021 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 243% from the previous session’s volume of 2,273,081 shares.The stock last traded at $38.5220 and had previously closed at $38.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MFC. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $63.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.37.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 56.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Canerector Inc. raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 27.0% during the first quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfam LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.