Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 16,376 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,654 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,376 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership's holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $7,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SLF. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth $398,037,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 86.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,952,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $246,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,772 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,991,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $373,984,000 after buying an additional 1,277,583 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 123.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,245,209 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $140,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter worth $57,893,000. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SLF. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Argus set a $81.00 price target on Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.67.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of SLF stock opened at $82.95 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.26. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.22 and a 12 month high of $84.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38 and a beta of 0.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $925.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.94%.

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.

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