TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Decreases Stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,506,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,099 shares during the quarter. Sun Life Financial comprises approximately 1.2% of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $433,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SLF. Louisbourg Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.0% in the first quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 5,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.8% during the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 9,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 4.7% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 5,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 6,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of SLF opened at $80.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.87. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.22 and a 52 week high of $84.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.07.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 7.66%.The company had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $994.33 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on SLF shares. Evercore cut Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. Argus raised 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. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.67.

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.