129,000 Shares in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 129,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,050,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 356,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,427,000 after purchasing an additional 79,500 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 226.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,270,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,327,000 after purchasing an additional 882,070 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 372,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,386,000 after purchasing an additional 201,485 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,733,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,120,000 after purchasing an additional 243,323 shares during the period. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 671,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,312,000 after purchasing an additional 36,204 shares during the period. 52.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Sun Life Financial stock opened at $73.10 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84 and a beta of 0.91. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.22 and a 1 year high of $74.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.15.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 17.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a $0.96 dividend. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SLF. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.