Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 79.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,844 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SLF. First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 5,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 13,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 3.2% in the third quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 7.3% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 7,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 83.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

NYSE SLF opened at $51.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $53.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.32. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.57 and a 1 year high of $55.46.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.06. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 7.79%. The business had revenue of $13.73 billion for the quarter. Research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.581 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 59.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.