BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Lowers Stock Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Key Points

• British Columbia Investment Management Corp has sold 630,499 shares of Sun Life Financial Inc., reducing its position by 33.2%, now holding 1,268,367 shares valued at approximately $72.6 million.
• Sun Life Financial has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6394, marking an increase from its previous dividend, with a current annualized yield of 4.3%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Sun Life Financial, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $88.00, while Barclays recently downgraded its rating from "equal weight" to "underweight."

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 33.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,268,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 630,499 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned 0.22% of Sun Life Financial worth $72,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 10,338,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $591,968,000 after acquiring an additional 846,735 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 14,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares during the last quarter. Credit Agricole S A boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 17,740 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $1,474,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 484,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,729,000 after purchasing an additional 57,863 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.8%

SLF traded up $0.47 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $58.54. 3,608,396 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 707,126. The business's 50 day moving average is $61.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.81. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.44 and a fifty-two week high of $66.81. The stock has a market cap of $32.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.90.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.29. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 17.21%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Sun Life Financial to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $88.00.

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.