Intact Investment Management Inc. Has $125.60 Million Stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 58.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,012,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 741,136 shares during the quarter. Sun Life Financial comprises approximately 3.6% of Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $125,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,788,000 after purchasing an additional 534,772 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 10.6% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,859,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,816,000 after purchasing an additional 371,139 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.3% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 3,303,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,709,000 after purchasing an additional 196,675 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 9.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,733,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,120,000 after buying an additional 243,323 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,187,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,438,000 after buying an additional 215,811 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

SLF opened at $72.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.91. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.22 and a 1-year high of $72.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.12.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $973.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.53 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 8.48%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 61.36%.

About Sun Life Financial

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.