9,299 Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Shares Sold by Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. reduced its stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 4.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 191,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,299 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $14,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SLF. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 11,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 10,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 5.8% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 6.9% in the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,079,000 after buying an additional 1,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $58,000. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Monday, August 10th. Evercore downgraded Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Sun Life Financial from $98.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Sun Life Financial stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.94. 448,421 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 700,925. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.22 and a 12 month high of $84.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.89.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.33 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th were given a dividend of C$0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 64.02%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc is a Canadian financial services company that provides insurance, wealth, and asset management products to individuals, businesses, and institutions. The company serves clients through operations in Canada, the United States, and several markets in Asia.

Its insurance offerings include life, health, dental, disability, long-term care, and critical illness coverage, as well as annuities and employee benefits. Sun Life also provides retirement savings and investment products, including mutual funds and other wealth solutions for individuals and workplace plan members.

Through its asset management businesses, Sun Life manages investments for institutional and retail clients across a range of asset classes.