Asia fuels Manulife’s earnings

Article Excerpt

MANULIFE FINANCIAL CORP. $27 (Toronto symbol MFC; Conservative-Growth Payer Portfolio; Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $54.0 billion; Dividend yield: 3.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.manulife.ca) is Canada’s largest life insurance provider. It also sells other forms of insurance, including health, dental and travel plans, as well as mutual funds and investment management services. The company last raised its quarterly dividend by 11.1%, with the March 2017 payment. Investors now receive $0.205 a share for a yield of 3.0%. In the quarter ended September 30, 2017, earnings rose 8.2%, to $0.53 per share from $0.49 a year earlier. That’s mainly due to strong growth in Asia; earnings rose 17% in that region. Insurance sales were particularly strong in Singapore, China and Vietnam. Manulife is a buy. buy…