Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases 377,204 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,157,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 377,204 shares during the quarter. Sun Life Financial makes up approximately 0.8% of Bank of Nova Scotia’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 1.09% of Sun Life Financial worth $409,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the second quarter worth $1,045,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 66.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Sun Life Financial by 134.0% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 211,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,053,000 after buying an additional 121,111 shares during the period. Finally, Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the second quarter valued at about $2,330,000. 52.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at $58.59 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.09 and a 200 day moving average of $61.04. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.44 and a 52 week high of $66.81. The company has a market cap of $32.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.87.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.93%. The business had revenue of $944.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $944.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 69.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SLF shares. Cibc Captl Mkts lowered Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.50.

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.