Ballast Inc. Purchases New Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Ballast Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLF. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 31,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 24,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.5% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,911,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 9.4% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 14,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the first quarter worth about $67,000. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at $54.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.30 and its 200 day moving average is $50.88. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.57 and a twelve month high of $55.46.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.73 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.79% and a return on equity of 17.30%. Sell-side analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.581 dividend. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.79%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.