Versor Investments LP Purchases New Shares in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $878,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 62,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,635,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 47,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,843,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 3,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $54.73 on Friday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.41 and a fifty-two week high of $62.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.56. The firm has a market cap of $31.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.03.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.5876 per share. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 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.