Quantinno Capital Management LP Acquires 98,922 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 37.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 361,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,922 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $12,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Canerector Inc. increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 170,000 shares during the last quarter. Sfam LLC bought a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $44.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $29.70 and a 1 year high of $44.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.26.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.89 billion for 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MFC shares. Zacks Research lowered Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

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.