Financial Gravity Companies Inc. Invests $64,000 in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $64,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLF. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Sun Life Financial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,595,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,407,626,000 after buying an additional 361,596 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.4% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,100,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $921,330,000 after acquiring an additional 374,682 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 8.9% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 10,338,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $591,968,000 after purchasing an additional 846,735 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 5.2% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 6,748,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $385,740,000 after purchasing an additional 335,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Sun Life Financial by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,780,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,848,000 after purchasing an additional 266,732 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SLF. Cibc Captl Mkts lowered Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Argus raised shares of Sun Life Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut shares of Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Sun Life Financial stock opened at $59.22 on Monday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.44 and a 12 month high of $66.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.36. The company has a market cap of $33.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.90.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 17.21%. The company had revenue of $944.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $944.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.92 dividend. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 69.41%.

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.