The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases Shares of 3,739,937 Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,739,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $293,050,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.1%

SLF stock opened at $79.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.49 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.33. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.22 and a 52 week high of $84.38.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $10.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.33 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. On average, analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued 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 4.9%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SLF. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Evercore lowered Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Argus set a $81.00 price target on Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.33.

Sun Life Financial 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.