Unigestion Holding SA Acquires 107,109 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Unigestion Holding SA raised its position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 44.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 107,109 shares during the period. Sun Life Financial comprises approximately 1.2% of Unigestion Holding SA's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Unigestion Holding SA owned 0.06% of Sun Life Financial worth $19,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,192,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $427,712,000 after buying an additional 703,391 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,596,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $94,743,000 after buying an additional 15,908 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 295.5% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,911,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,453,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,815 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased 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 period. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLF traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $65.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 340,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 647,404. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $59.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.72. The company has a market capitalization of $36.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.41 and a fifty-two week high of $65.28.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 billion. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 16.86%. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.6332 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $2.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is presently 62.09%.

About Sun Life Financial

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.