Yahoo Finance Manulife Financial (MFC) Could Be a Great Choice
All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.
Manulife Financial in Focus
Headquartered in Toronto, Manulife Financial (MFC) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 4.04% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.28 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 5.96%. In comparison, the Insurance - Life Insurance industry's yield is 0.06%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.7%.
In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.11 is up 9.3% from last year. Manulife Financial has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 9.23%. Any future dividend growth will depend on both earnings growth and the company's payout ratio; a payout ratio is the proportion of a firm's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, Manulife's payout ratio is 46%, which means it paid out 46% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Looking at this fiscal year, MFC expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $2.43 per share, with earnings expected to increase 2.10% from the year ago period.
Bottom Line
From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.
For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers their shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, MFC is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).
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Manulife Financial Corp (MFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
