Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Stock Crosses Below 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC)’s stock price crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.75 and traded as low as $42.85. Manulife Financial shares last traded at $43.19, with a volume of 1,851,374 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MFC. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.75.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.75 and a 200 day moving average of $40.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.86.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.06. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 10.28%. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a C$0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial during the third quarter worth about $27,000. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Manulife Financial