Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $41.74 and last traded at $41.1940, with a volume of 775329 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.63 and a 200 day moving average of $37.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.75%.

Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at $234,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $343,000. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 363,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,610 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 71,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Finally, Apella Capital LLC lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 55.9% in the 2nd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 3,943 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

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.