Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.6667.

Several brokerages have commented on SLF. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Argus set a $81.00 price objective on Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Sun Life Financial by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,012,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $125,598,000 after acquiring an additional 741,136 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,341,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,615,788,000 after purchasing an additional 534,772 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 329,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,582,000 after purchasing an additional 25,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 452,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,156,000 after purchasing an additional 138,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE SLF opened at $79.61 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.09 and its 200-day moving average is $67.63. The company has a market capitalization of $44.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 0.88. Sun Life Financial has a 12-month low of $56.22 and a 12-month high of $79.67.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 17.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sun Life Financial will post 5.76 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 72.94%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.