Fiera Capital Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Fiera Capital Corp reduced its position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 753,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,528 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp owned about 0.14% of Sun Life Financial worth $45,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SLF. Syon Capital LLC lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 12,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 5.7% in the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 671,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,312,000 after purchasing an additional 36,204 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 9.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,733,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,120,000 after buying an additional 243,323 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 3.3% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 711 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 28.6% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 24,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after buying an additional 5,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. National Bank Financial reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, November 6th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

NYSE:SLF opened at $65.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $63.46 and a 200 day moving average of $60.88. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.44 and a 1-year high of $69.67.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $973.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.53 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.55%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is an international financial services organization that provides a range of insurance, wealth management and asset management solutions. The company serves individual and institutional clients, offering products designed to protect against life and health risks, help clients save for retirement, and manage investments on behalf of customers and third parties.

Core business activities include life and health insurance, group benefits for employers, retirement and pension products, and wealth management services such as mutual funds and segregated fund solutions.