TD Asset Management Inc Has $959.15 Million Stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

TD Asset Management Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,344,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 376,575 shares during the period. Sun Life Financial makes up about 0.8% of TD Asset Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $959,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,615,788,000 after purchasing an additional 534,772 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $398,037,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,529,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,181,000 after buying an additional 347,041 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,896,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,542,000 after buying an additional 36,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.3% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 3,303,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,709,000 after buying an additional 196,675 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $72.11 on Thursday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.22 and a 52 week high of $74.16. The company has a market capitalization of $39.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 72.94%.

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.