Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $43.56 and last traded at $42.4850, with a volume of 1503432 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MFC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research cut Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 2.1%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.98 and a 200 day moving average of $37.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 0.84.

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). The business had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.75%.

Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MFC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,317,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,843,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606,480 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,388,259,000 after purchasing an additional 542,834 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,550,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,431,000 after purchasing an additional 728,643 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $777,229,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,099 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

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.