Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Shares Sold by Amundi

Amundi cut its holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,603,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 73,367 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.28% of Sun Life Financial worth $103,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $244,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,595,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,407,626,000 after purchasing an additional 361,596 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,607,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,000,000 after buying an additional 11,263 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 7.3% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,018,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,302,000 after buying an additional 69,071 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,548,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,937,000 after buying an additional 60,112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Monday, November 10th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.5%

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

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.93% and a net margin of 7.53%.The firm had revenue of $944.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.53 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 69.68%.

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.