The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 706,303 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,945,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 706,303 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $434,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 30.5% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 189,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,871,000 after purchasing an additional 44,355 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 224.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 27,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 19,248 shares in the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $798,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $19,830,000. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $446,000. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.8%

SLF opened at $82.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.74. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.22 and a 52 week high of $83.05.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 7.85%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SLF shares. Evercore downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.67.

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.