Ballentine Partners LLC Takes Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,599 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 19.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,220 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 5,676.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 32,411 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 39.4% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,628 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,202,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $71,385,000 after acquiring an additional 77,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $302,000. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Barclays cut shares of Sun Life Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.00.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $62.44 on Thursday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.41 and a 12 month high of $66.81. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $63.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.48. The firm has a market cap of $35.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.91.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.05. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were given a $0.6332 dividend. This represents a $2.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.89%.

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.

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