Mackenzie Financial Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial cut its stake in Sun Life by 17.2% in Q3, selling 1,882,037 shares and now holds 9,075,223 shares (1.63% of the company) valued at $544.84M, making SLF its 29th-largest holding.
• Sun Life declared a quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share (annualized $3.68) with an ex-dividend date of Feb 25 and a yield of 5.8%, payable Mar 31.
• Analyst coverage is mixed with a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $86.50; sell-side ratings include 1 Strong Buy, 4 Buy, 5 Hold and 1 Sell.

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,075,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,882,037 shares during the period. Sun Life Financial makes up 0.7% of Mackenzie Financial Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 1.63% of Sun Life Financial worth $544,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,422,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,691,568,000 after purchasing an additional 827,119 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,157,205 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $409,576,000 after acquiring an additional 377,204 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the second quarter worth about $362,886,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 19.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,625,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $312,065,000 after purchasing an additional 750,768 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,859,614 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,816,000 after purchasing an additional 371,139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $63.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $35.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.46. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.44 and a 52 week high of $69.67.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $973.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.53 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 8.48%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.36%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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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