Spinnaker Trust Raises Position in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Spinnaker Trust increased its stake in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 127,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,034 shares during the quarter. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $2,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 109.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 199,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,401,000 after buying an additional 104,026 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 5,507,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,922,000 after acquiring an additional 446,233 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 86,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 26,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,793,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,019,000 after purchasing an additional 582,468 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MFC traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.47. 1,552,889 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,192,240. Manulife Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.07 and a fifty-two week high of $25.14. The company has a market capitalization of $42.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.62.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 10.42%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.298 dividend. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Manulife Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Desjardins upgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.33.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.