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

Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 56,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,362,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,233,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,438,888,000 after acquiring an additional 197,887 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,192,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $427,712,000 after purchasing an additional 703,391 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 28.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,284,556 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 1.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,654,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $156,127,000 after purchasing an additional 207,832 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cormark raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SLF opened at $58.11 on Wednesday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.41 and a fifty-two week high of $62.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.00. The stock has a market cap of $33.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.5876 dividend. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.16%.

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.