International Assets Investment Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 41,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,138,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Addenda Capital Inc. increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 148,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,710,000 after purchasing an additional 25,886 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter worth $2,299,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 7.2% during the third quarter. Barometer Capital Management Inc. now owns 151,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,410,000 after buying an additional 10,200 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,897,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,381,000 after buying an additional 41,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 678,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,214,000 after buying an additional 11,271 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Sun Life Financial stock opened at $51.11 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.21. The company has a market capitalization of $29.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.57 and a fifty-two week high of $55.46.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.73 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 7.79%. On average, analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.581 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 59.79%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.