Korea Investment CORP Makes New $35.53 Million Investment in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Korea Investment CORP purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 452,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,531,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,888,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 58.3% in the fourth 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 period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1,342.4% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,141,000 after purchasing an additional 46,675 shares during the period. JCP Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the first quarter worth about $798,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,615,788,000 after purchasing an additional 534,772 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLF. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Argus set a $81.00 price target on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.33.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.0%

Sun Life Financial stock opened at $79.07 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $80.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.17. The firm has a market cap of $44.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48 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 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.33 million. Equities analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 66.12%.

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.