Manulife Ends Year With Middling Results, Increases Dividend by 11%

No-moat-rated Manulife Financial ended the year with middling results, reporting core earnings of CAD 1,746 million or CAD 0.88 per share for the fourth quarter, up 2% compared with CAD 1,708 million or CAD 0.84 per share in the year-ago quarter. The fourth-quarter results equated to an annualized core return on equity of 13.2%. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to CAD 0.365 per share, up 11% from CAD 0.33. The shares are currently trading at a forward dividend yield of around 5.6%. We are maintaining our CAD 27.50 fair value estimate after incorporating fourth-quarter results.