PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases 34,437 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 159.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,437 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $3,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $81,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,701,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,461,000 after buying an additional 63,325 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 15.1% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.67.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE SLF opened at $84.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.89. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.22 and a twelve month high of $84.38.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 7.85%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 72.94%.

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.