PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Takes Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $947,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of SLF opened at $73.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $69.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.04. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.22 and a twelve month high of $74.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.89.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $925.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.