Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Shares Sold by Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 65,818 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Sun Life Financial worth $18,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLF. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $244,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 113.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 4,270 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the second quarter worth about $204,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Sun Life Financial by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SLF shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SLF opened at $65.46 on Thursday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a one year low of $52.44 and a one year high of $69.67. The stock has a market cap of $36.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.02.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.06. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 8.48%.The company had revenue of $973.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 59.55%.

About Sun Life Financial

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.