Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 63.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,588 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 103,764 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $3,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 28,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,693,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,147 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 47,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,843,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLF has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.00.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SLF stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $64.64. The company had a trading volume of 74,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 647,831. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.51 and a 200-day moving average of $58.68. The company has a market capitalization of $36.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.41 and a 12-month high of $65.28.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 billion. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a $0.6332 dividend. This represents a $2.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.09%.

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.