Waverly Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 7,131 Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $446,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SLF. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 58.3% during the 4th 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. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1,342.4% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,141,000 after purchasing an additional 46,675 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 8.4% during the fourth 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, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 16.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 113,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,112,000 after purchasing an additional 16,376 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.5%

SLF opened at $82.50 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.46. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.22 and a 1-year high of $84.38. The stock has a market cap of $45.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26 and a beta of 0.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $925.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 72.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SLF. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. National Bank Financial upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.67.

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.