PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. Lowers Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. cut its position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 25.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,560 shares during the period. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $1,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SLF. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 3.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,422,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,691,568,000 after purchasing an additional 827,119 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings 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 valued at $409,576,000 after purchasing an additional 377,204 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $362,886,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,625,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,065,000 after buying an additional 750,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,859,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,816,000 after buying an additional 371,139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SLF. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

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

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its 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. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The business had revenue of $973.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

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