Ballast Inc. Takes $212,000 Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Ballast Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 3,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 24,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

SLF opened at $54.58 on Friday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.57 and a 12-month high of $55.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.88. The company has a market capitalization of $31.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.73 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 7.79%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.581 per share. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 59.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.