Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the four research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SLF. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cormark raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Institutional Trading of Sun Life Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 106.0% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 8,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 4,516 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,898,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,602,000 after acquiring an additional 313,176 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,235,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,337,000 after purchasing an additional 110,780 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Sun Life Financial by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,202,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,385,000 after purchasing an additional 77,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

NYSE SLF opened at $55.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $34.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.03. Sun Life Financial has a 1-year low of $46.41 and a 1-year high of $62.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.33.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. On average, analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.5876 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.19%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.