Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Stock Position Cut by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,167,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 338,863 shares during the quarter. Sun Life Financial accounts for approximately 1.1% of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $398,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $81,587,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,888,000. Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,531,000. Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd bought a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,637,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $78,481,000. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Argus increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from $98.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Evercore lowered Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Sun Life Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.50.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of SLF stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.40. 375,470 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 474,935. The stock has a market cap of $44.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.22. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.22 and a 12 month high of $84.38.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $10.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $994.33 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th were issued a dividend of C$0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 64.02%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc is a Canadian financial services company that provides insurance, wealth, and asset management products to individuals, businesses, and institutions. The company serves clients through operations in Canada, the United States, and several markets in Asia.

Its insurance offerings include life, health, dental, disability, long-term care, and critical illness coverage, as well as annuities and employee benefits. Sun Life also provides retirement savings and investment products, including mutual funds and other wealth solutions for individuals and workplace plan members.

Through its asset management businesses, Sun Life manages investments for institutional and retail clients across a range of asset classes.