927,400 Shares in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Bought by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 927,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $57,893,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 117.7% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 372,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,386,000 after purchasing an additional 201,485 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 9.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,733,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,120,000 after purchasing an additional 243,323 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 5.7% during the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 671,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,312,000 after purchasing an additional 36,204 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,012,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $125,598,000 after purchasing an additional 741,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial during the third quarter worth $2,341,000. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.0%

SLF stock opened at $76.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.76. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.22 and a 12-month high of $77.01. The company has a market cap of $42.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 0.90.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 7.85%.The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. Argus set a $81.00 price target on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.67.

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.