MANULIFE FINANCIAL CORP. $17.42

MANULIFE FINANCIAL CORP. $17.42 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $34.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.manulife.ca) offers life and other related forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services.

In the three months ended March 31, 2016, the company’s earnings per share rose 12.8%, to $0.44 from $0.39. It continues to expand in growing Asian markets. Right now, about 40% of its insurance premiums come from that region.

Manulife ended the latest quarter with $904.0 billion of assets under management, up 10.1% from $821.0 billion a year earlier. A large part of the increase came from the Canadian insurance operations of U.K.-based Standard Life. Manulife bought those assets for $4.0 billion in early 2015.

The stock trades at just 9.3 times its forecast 2016 earnings of $1.87 a share. With the March 2016 payment, Manulife raised its quarterly dividend by 8.8%, to $0.185 from $0.17; it now yields 4.3%.

Manulife is a buy.

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.