Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Shares Purchased by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 2,237.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,472 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 117.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 372,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,386,000 after purchasing an additional 201,485 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 9.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,733,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,120,000 after purchasing an additional 243,323 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 5.7% in the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 671,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,312,000 after purchasing an additional 36,204 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial in the third quarter valued at $2,341,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 58.3% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,012,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $125,598,000 after purchasing an additional 741,136 shares during the period. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on SLF shares. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $71.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.50. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.22 and a fifty-two week high of $74.16.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 17.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 72.94%.

Sun Life Financial Profile

Sun Life Financial Inc, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is an international financial services organization that provides a range of insurance, wealth management and asset management solutions. The company serves individual and institutional clients, offering products designed to protect against life and health risks, help clients save for retirement, and manage investments on behalf of customers and third parties.

Core business activities include life and health insurance, group benefits for employers, retirement and pension products, and wealth management services such as mutual funds and segregated fund solutions.