Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 55.8% in September

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 12,021,942 shares, an increase of 55.8% from the September 15th total of 7,716,304 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,432,895 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the second quarter worth $145,177,000. Canerector Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 170,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 183.7% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $402,969,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577,711 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,645,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the second quarter worth $92,762,000. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.75.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

MFC traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,131,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,338,013. Manulife Financial has a twelve month low of $31.55 and a twelve month high of $45.33. The company has a market capitalization of $73.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.09.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. Manulife Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a C$0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.49%.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canadian financial services company that provides insurance, wealth and asset management, retirement solutions and employee benefits. Its offerings include life and health insurance, annuities, group benefits, mutual funds, pension products and investment management services for individuals, businesses and institutional clients.

Founded in 1887 as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife has grown into an international organization serving customers primarily in Canada, the United States and Asia.