Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Invests $570,000 in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 4,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 155.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 15,921 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 321,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,059,000 after acquiring an additional 129,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SLF shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Sun Life Financial from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.00.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE SLF opened at $63.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $57.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.18. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.41 and a 12 month high of $63.34.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.44 billion. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.6332 dividend. This represents a $2.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 62.09%.

Sun Life Financial 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.