Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 534,772 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 534,772 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $1,615,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 44,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after buying an additional 1,731 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 126.2% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 67,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after buying an additional 37,539 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,187,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,438,000 after buying an additional 215,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 127,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,949,000 after buying an additional 9,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at $72.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.11. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.22 and a 52-week high of $72.12. The company has a market cap of $39.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 0.87.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.06. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The firm had revenue of $973.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 61.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLF has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial 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.