PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Takes Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 302,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,984,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MFC. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 18,222 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 814.3% during the 2nd quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,544,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,999 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MFC opened at $38.75 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $29.70 and a twelve month high of $40.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.57.

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 business had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.75%.

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.