Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 24,904,565 shares, a growth of 66.0% from the May 14th total of 15,001,396 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,331,786 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.5 days.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MFC traded up $0.35 on Tuesday, hitting $41.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,174,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,534,377. Manulife Financial has a 12-month low of $29.70 and a 12-month high of $41.43. The company has a market capitalization of $68.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.55 and a 200-day moving average of $36.85.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly 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). Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. The business had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 56.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hoge Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 31,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 8,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 14,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.1% during the first quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 27,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $954,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MFC shares. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial 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.