Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Plans Quarterly Dividend of C$0.48

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of 0.485 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, September 21st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st.

Manulife Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Manulife Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 44.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Manulife Financial to earn $3.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.6%.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $44.52 on Thursday. Manulife Financial has a 1 year low of $29.70 and a 1 year high of $44.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.37.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research cut Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.