Americana Partners LLC Purchases 364 Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Americana Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 0.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 69,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $2,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,289,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,806,508,000 after purchasing an additional 727,764 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,803,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $749,435,000 after buying an additional 3,720,693 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 24,057,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $640,411,000 after buying an additional 750,422 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 34.3% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 19,723,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,042,000 after buying an additional 5,036,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,783,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $393,592,000 after buying an additional 75,244 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MFC. Dbs Bank upgraded Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays initiated coverage on Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.67.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFC stock opened at $29.47 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.78. Manulife Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $18.00 and a 1 year high of $30.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.27. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.16%. The business had revenue of $9.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 66.47%.

Manulife Financial 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.