K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Acquires Shares of 6,199 Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 6,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SLF. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,788,000 after acquiring an additional 534,772 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 14.7% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,869,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,244,000 after purchasing an additional 878,031 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $398,037,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,529,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,181,000 after purchasing an additional 347,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 86.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,952,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $80.74 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.78. The company has a market capitalization of $45.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 0.88. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. The company had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.33 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 66.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLF has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Argus set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from $98.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.33.

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.