Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 30,227 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,861,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,227 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $75,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial in the second quarter worth about $25,000. First Bancorp Inc ME bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Canerector Inc. lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 170,000 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $42.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.08. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $30.20 and a 52 week high of $45.33.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

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.