First Affirmative Financial Network Sells 573 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

First Affirmative Financial Network cut its holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 10.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 573 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Unigestion Holding SA boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 44.2% in the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 349,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,990,000 after acquiring an additional 107,109 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Sun Life Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $200,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 5,676.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 32,411 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 5,413.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 2,071.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,350,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288,545 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Cormark raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.00.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE SLF opened at $65.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $59.98 and its 200-day moving average is $58.77. The stock has a market cap of $36.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.92. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.41 and a twelve month high of $65.56.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.44 billion. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 16.86%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a $0.6332 dividend. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 64.89%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.