First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 580,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 90,066 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $36,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth $244,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 113.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 4,270 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the second quarter valued at about $232,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sun Life Financial by 66.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE SLF opened at $82.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $46.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38 and a beta of 0.88. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.22 and a 52 week high of $83.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.74.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $925.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SLF. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Evercore downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.67.

Sun Life Financial Company 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.