Norges Bank Makes New $777.23 Million Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 21,403,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $777,229,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.28% of Manulife Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hoge Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 31,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 14,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 27,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $987,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 8,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MFC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFC stock opened at $38.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.38 and its 200-day moving average is $36.42. The stock has a market cap of $63.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.87. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $29.70 and a 52-week high of $40.40.

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

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.35%.

Manulife Financial 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.