Manulife Financial (MFC.TO)

Is buying back stock, an ROE of 17%, and pays a 5.5% dividend. Likes their geographic footprint.

It is not trading above its 200 day moving average and has been at its consolidation level for a long time. Look for a breakout above $28. It is not a trading stock but one to buy and hold. It pays a decent dividend without big risks.

Growth continues to be limited. The shares have been rangebound between $20-30 for many years. Fundamentals are merely okay. Their footprint is mostly in Canada with an insurance business in the US, plus the Asian division and wealth management. The latter two businesses are doing well and enjoy growth, but Canada offers flat growth because insurance here is fully mature.  The US is a slow grind. Trades around 8x PE, which is cheap vs. peers and banks. Problem is flat growth. The dividend pays 6% but so does a bond. This is a show-me story.

MFC is now trading at 7.3x times the forward P/E. In the 3Q, MFC’s core EPS grew 35% to $0.92, beating estimates of $0.81. Core ROE is also quite healthy around 16.8%. The adjusted book value per share grew 4% to $30.67. The balance sheet is healthy, with long-term debt of $13B and long-term debt/equity stands at 0.21x. Overall, a solid quarter for MFC MFC has also ramped up share buybacks in recent quarters, which we like. One of the reasons we like SLF over MFC is due to its  track record. SLF is more conservative in the way they run their business. For example, SLF did not have to cut its dividend in the financial crisis of 2008, while MFC did. It has, simply, proven more reliable over the past two decades. It is a bit more expensive, but we think the premium is justified. 
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We're getting closer to a Buy signal for Canadian banks, a lot of fear is already priced in. He'd be looking to pick up some banks, given they're trading at a rarely seen below 10x. MFC and the like have held in fairly well, so he'd be looking to buy banks over insurance at this point.

It's cheap and pays a decent dividend. The problem is no growth. North America is mature, but Asia is limited for them. Is only modest growth in earnings. He doesn't know if things get better in the short term.

Share price volatility frustrating. Not building value in shares over the long run. Would recommend holding shares. ~5% yield in shares attractive. Owns shares in company. 

Doesn't own any lifecos, prefers P&C and banks. Dogged by US business divisions, trying to divest. Canadian business is a modest grower. Star is the Asian business, which is 1/3 of operations. Always trades in single digits, 5+% yield, never seems to get above $30. He's neutral. Sell if it gets to $30.

Very complicated business model.
Difficult to determine long term prospects of business.
Higher interest rates usually good for insurance, but not panning out.
Better names within sector to invest in.

Has owned in the past, but since sold shares.
Earnings growth not very good.
Valuation attractive, but not worthwhile.
Investment income in alternative assets not living up to expectations.
Exposure to Hong Kong also not living up to expectations. 

Market sensitive stock due to asset management business.
10 year performance not very good.
Owns shares due to dividend only.
Not expecting major capital appreciation.
Long term investment (10-15 years). 

A glass half full type of stock, it's not perfect. Issues with long-duration assets right now. All this is built into the story, nothing has changed with his thesis. 7.3x 2024 earnings, 11% compelling growth rate.

It is the largest life insurance company in Canada and is strong in Asia where there is high growth. It has traded sideways recently as well as long term. Its dividend is over 6%. They sold their shares and rotated into another life insurance company