UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Sells 6,346 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 36.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,346 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 426,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,323,000 after purchasing an additional 41,570 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 8,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 71.5% during the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 879,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,178,000 after buying an additional 366,546 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,362,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,233,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,438,888,000 after acquiring an additional 197,887 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cormark raised Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE SLF opened at $57.27 on Tuesday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.41 and a twelve month high of $62.85. The company has a market cap of $32.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.99.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.5876 per share. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.16%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.