Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Position Raised by Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 161.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,866,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,153,792 shares during the period. Manulife Financial comprises approximately 1.7% of Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Manulife Financial worth $64,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 179.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after buying an additional 18,222 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 5,699,999 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at $41.31 on Tuesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1-year low of $29.70 and a 1-year high of $41.74. The company has a market cap of $68.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.55.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MFC shares. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

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.