Diversify Advisory Services LLC Purchases New Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $790,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $2,888,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 1,342.4% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,141,000 after purchasing an additional 46,675 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 58.3% in the 4th 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. JCP Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $798,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,788,000 after buying an additional 534,772 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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 shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.33.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE SLF opened at $78.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 0.88. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.22 and a 12 month high of $84.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.12.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $10.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.33 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

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