Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.Manulife Financial’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MFC traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $44.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,770,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,210,565. The firm has a market cap of $74.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial has a fifty-two week low of $29.70 and a fifty-two week high of $45.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.27 and a 200-day moving average of $38.37.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,699,999 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1,975.2% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,045,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,312,000 after purchasing an additional 3,850,547 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 3,876.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,778,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,708,583 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 199.7% during the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,325,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 54.7% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,652,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,663 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

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.