Swiss National Bank Decreases Stock Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,908,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.33% of Sun Life Financial worth $99,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Addenda Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 148,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,710,000 after buying an additional 25,886 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $2,299,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,138,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,610,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barometer Capital Management Inc. now owns 151,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,410,000 after purchasing an additional 10,200 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $52.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.17 and a 200 day moving average of $51.44. The company has a market capitalization of $30.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.57 and a 52 week high of $55.46.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.06. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 7.79%. The company had revenue of $13.73 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.581 per share. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 59.79%.

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.