Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Short Interest Up 144.4% in April

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 10,937,480 shares, an increase of 144.4% from the April 15th total of 4,475,943 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,942,688 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MFC. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 18,222 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 814.3% in the 2nd quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,544,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,999 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.59. 2,262,794 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,034,942. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 0.87. Manulife Financial has a 1-year low of $29.70 and a 1-year high of $40.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.02.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 56.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation is a multinational insurance and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in the late 19th century as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life and health insurance, retirement and pension solutions, wealth and asset management, and group benefits.

In wealth and asset management, Manulife operates through Manulife Investment Management and offers mutual funds, segregated funds, institutional asset management, and retirement plan solutions.