Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) Short Interest Update

Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,030,000 shares, a decline of 17.8% from the August 15th total of 35,300,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.6 days.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $19.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.93 and a 200 day moving average of $18.93. Manulife Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.92 and a fifty-two week high of $20.40.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.31 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 13.53%. Analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 23rd will be issued a $0.276 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.70%. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 34,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 21,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 12,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 217,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,977,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 11th.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Asia, Canada, the United States, 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.