Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Sells 63,250 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,151,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 63,250 shares during the period. Manulife Financial comprises about 3.7% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $223,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,709,000 after purchasing an additional 363,963 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,541,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $359,662,000 after purchasing an additional 621,093 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 233.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 556,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,804,000 after purchasing an additional 389,500 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new position in Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $879,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,638,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,172,922,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079,330 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $38.83 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1-year low of $29.70 and a 1-year high of $40.40. The company has a market cap of $64.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.66.

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

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 56.75%.

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.