EP Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 20,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $821,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Sfam LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.1%

MFC opened at $42.54 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.90. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $29.77 and a 52 week high of $45.33.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MFC. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

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.