Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Position Boosted by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF – Get Rating) (TSE:SLF) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,780,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,368 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.30% of Sun Life Financial worth $82,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Oxler Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. 44.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$68.00 to C$71.00 in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$71.00 to C$75.00 in a research report on Friday, February 10th. National Bank Financial increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$69.00 to C$71.00 in a research report on Friday, February 10th. CIBC lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$73.00 to C$75.00 in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.78.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SLF opened at $49.51 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.63. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.96 and a 52 week high of $51.63. The company has a market capitalization of $29.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.00.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be issued a $0.554 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.66%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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Sun Life Financial, Inc engages in the provision of insurance and asset management solutions to individual and corporate clients. It operates through the following segments: Canada, United States, Asset Management, Asia, and Corporate. The Canada segment offers individual insurance and group benefits and retirement services.