Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,233,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 197,887 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 3.86% of Sun Life Financial worth $1,438,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,192,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $427,712,000 after buying an additional 703,391 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,837,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 5.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,189,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,047,000 after purchasing an additional 257,178 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,841,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,876,000 after purchasing an additional 34,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 8.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,654,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $156,127,000 after purchasing an additional 207,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.1 %

Sun Life Financial stock opened at $57.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.93. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.41 and a 52 week high of $62.85.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 16.86%. On average, equities analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.5876 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLF has been the topic of several research reports. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Sun Life Financial 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.