Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 150,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,769 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $3,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MFC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $406,195,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 694.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,984,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482,367 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $52,082,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,706,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,032,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harding Loevner LP increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Harding Loevner LP now owns 10,380,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,997,743 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $24.98 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.84. Manulife Financial Co. has a one year low of $17.07 and a one year high of $25.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.08.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The business had revenue of $10.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.298 per share. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.19 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on MFC shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Desjardins upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.33.

Manulife Financial Profile

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.