Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC – Get Free Report) TSE: MFC was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 29,080,000 shares, a decrease of 21.7% from the November 15th total of 37,160,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.4 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.
Institutional Trading of Manulife Financial
Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 21,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 32,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 12,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $560,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.02% of the company’s stock.
Manulife Financial Price Performance
Manulife Financial stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $21.38. The company had a trading volume of 4,296,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,259,605. The company has a market capitalization of $38.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.10. Manulife Financial has a 12-month low of $17.07 and a 12-month high of $21.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.84.
Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC – Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.07 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, analysts expect that Manulife Financial will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Manulife Financial Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.263 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 21st. This represents a $1.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 52.50%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.43.
Manulife Financial Company Profile
Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Asia, Canada, the United States, 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.