West Family Investments Inc. Takes $513,000 Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $513,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SLF. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,888,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 1,342.4% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,141,000 after purchasing an additional 46,675 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 58.3% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,012,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $125,598,000 after purchasing an additional 741,136 shares during the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $798,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,615,788,000 after buying an additional 534,772 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Sun Life Financial stock opened at $79.59 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 0.88. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.22 and a 12-month high of $84.38.

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

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SLF shares. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.33.

About Sun Life Financial

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.