Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Takes Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 459,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,570,000. Sun Life Financial makes up approximately 1.5% of Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA owned approximately 0.08% of Sun Life Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SLF. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 184.1% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Tobam purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 48.8% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 38.6% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 121.8% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:SLF opened at $63.57 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.28 and its 200 day moving average is $61.46. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.44 and a 12 month high of $69.67. The company has a market capitalization of $35.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.87.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.06. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 8.48%.The business had revenue of $973.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.68 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.36%.

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.