Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 20,729 Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 20,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,626,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth $244,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 113.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 4,270 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the second quarter worth about $232,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 66.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Sun Life Financial stock opened at $78.64 on Friday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.22 and a fifty-two week high of $84.38. The company has a market capitalization of $43.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $80.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.63.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $10.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.33 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 7.66%. On average, analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Sun Life Financial from $98.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.33.

About Sun Life Financial

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.