Bridges Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 16,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,289,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,806,508,000 after buying an additional 727,764 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,066,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $823,074,000 after purchasing an additional 7,766,870 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.8% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,803,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $749,435,000 after buying an additional 3,720,693 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 57.9% during the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 23,307,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $582,444,000 after buying an additional 8,548,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 20,710,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,108,000 after acquiring an additional 6,663,997 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MFC shares. Dbs Bank raised shares of Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.67.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $28.77 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.59 and a 200-day moving average of $25.61. Manulife Financial Co. has a one year low of $17.07 and a one year high of $28.97. The stock has a market cap of $51.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.08.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $9.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.95 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 66.86%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.