Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Stock Holdings Increased by Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,208,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,219 shares during the quarter. Sun Life Financial comprises approximately 3.3% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.58% of Sun Life Financial worth $200,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SLF. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $398,037,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 741,136 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,615,788,000 after buying an additional 534,772 shares during the period. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial during the third quarter worth about $27,570,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 10.6% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,859,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,816,000 after buying an additional 371,139 shares during the period. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SLF. Wall Street Zen downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $73.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.29. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.22 and a 12 month high of $74.68.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 7.85%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 72.94%.

Sun Life Financial Company 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.