Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) Short Interest Down 45.2% in September

by · The Markets Daily

Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC – Get Free Report) (TSE:MFC) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,790,000 shares, a drop of 45.2% from the September 15th total of 14,210,000 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Manulife Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MFC. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth $341,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 750.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,910,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,990,000 after acquiring an additional 8,745,071 shares in the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 18,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,184,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,681,000 after purchasing an additional 644,820 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MFC. TD Securities lifted their target price on Manulife Financial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays initiated coverage on Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.67.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

MFC traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,006,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,653,510. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.08. Manulife Financial has a twelve month low of $17.07 and a twelve month high of $30.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.13.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC – Get Free Report) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $9.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 67.05%.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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