Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases 90,870 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 27.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 420,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,870 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $26,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SLF. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 58.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 741,136 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new position in Sun Life Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,341,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Guardian Capital LP boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 44.2% in the third quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 452,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,156,000 after purchasing an additional 138,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,117,000. 52.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.67.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at $78.89 on Thursday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.22 and a 1-year high of $79.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33 and a beta of 0.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 7.85%.The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $925.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.76 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.94%.

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.