PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Purchases Shares of 15,176 Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 15,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $947,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLF. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $244,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 113.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 4,270 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at about $232,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 66.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:SLF opened at $73.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.89. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.22 and a fifty-two week high of $74.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.04.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 17.80%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is an increase 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 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 72.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SLF. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. 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. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.50.

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.