1,486,005 Shares in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Acquired by Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,486,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $116,628,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned about 0.27% of Sun Life Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SLF shares. Argus set a $81.00 target price on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barclays restated 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 assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.33.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at $79.05 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48 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.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. The firm had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.33 million. Analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.12%.

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.