Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Shares Sold by Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd.

Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 44.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 96,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77,978 shares during the period. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $5,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SLF. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 6.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,157,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $409,576,000 after purchasing an additional 377,204 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 41.1% in the second quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 61,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,069,000 after purchasing an additional 17,799 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 226.8% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,270,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,327,000 after purchasing an additional 882,070 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 310,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,609,000 after buying an additional 6,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicola Wealth Management LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 356,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,427,000 after buying an additional 79,500 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SLF. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at $64.93 on Wednesday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a one year low of $52.44 and a one year high of $69.67. The company has a market cap of $35.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.99.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $973.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.53 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 59.55%.

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.