K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Buys New Shares in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 6,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLF. 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 valued at $1,615,788,000 after purchasing an additional 534,772 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 14.7% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,869,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,244,000 after buying an additional 878,031 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $398,037,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,529,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,181,000 after buying an additional 347,041 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 86.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,952,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,645,000 after buying an additional 1,834,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE SLF opened at $80.74 on Tuesday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.22 and a 1-year high of $84.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.89 and a 200-day moving average of $71.78. The firm has a market cap of $45.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 0.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $10.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.33 million. On average, analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on SLF. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Sun Life Financial from $98.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.33.

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.