Nykredit A S Invests $10.19 Million in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 129,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,189,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in Sun Life Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $544,052,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $398,037,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,529,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,181,000 after purchasing an additional 347,041 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 86.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,952,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $246,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,896,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,542,000 after purchasing an additional 36,698 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SLF opened at $80.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $80.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.13. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.22 and a twelve month high of $84.38.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 64.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on SLF shares. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Sun Life Financial from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.67.

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.