Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 1,098,286 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,668,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,098,286 shares during the period. Sun Life Financial makes up about 0.7% of Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $220,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,422,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,691,568,000 after acquiring an additional 827,119 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,157,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $409,576,000 after purchasing an additional 377,204 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $362,886,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 19.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,625,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,065,000 after purchasing an additional 750,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 10.6% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,859,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,816,000 after purchasing an additional 371,139 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SLF shares. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of SLF opened at $63.56 on Thursday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.44 and a 1 year high of $69.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.48. The firm has a market cap of $35.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.87.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.06. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The firm had revenue of $973.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 61.36%.

Sun Life Financial Company 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.