Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. National Bank Financial upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th.

Institutional Trading of Sun Life Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 62,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,635,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 28,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $54.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.36. Sun Life Financial has a 12-month low of $46.41 and a 12-month high of $62.85. The firm has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.03.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.5876 per share. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 67.19%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.