Investors Purchase High Volume of Sun Life Financial Call Options (NYSE:SLF)

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 8,206 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 16,996% compared to the typical volume of 48 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 184.1% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 3.2%

SLF stock opened at $65.94 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.10. The stock has a market cap of $36.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.87. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of $52.62 and a fifty-two week high of $69.67.

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

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 61.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.