Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 62,863 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Key Points

• VanEck Associates boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 24.7%, buying 62,863 shares to hold 317,594 shares (about 0.06% of the company) valued at roughly $19.07 million.
• Sun Life announced a quarterly dividend of $0.92 (annualized $3.68) equating to a roughly 5.9% yield, with record date Feb 25 and payment on Mar 31.
• SLF has a consensus analyst rating of Hold with a consensus price target of $86.50, and it reported quarterly EPS of $1.41, beating estimates by $0.06.

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 24.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 317,594 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 62,863 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.06% of Sun Life Financial worth $19,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $244,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 113.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 4,270 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,472 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,626,000 after buying an additional 2,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 606,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,334,000 after buying an additional 15,671 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SLF shares. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLF traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.85. 57,500 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 681,644. The company's 50 day moving average is $64.31 and its 200 day moving average is $61.49. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a one year low of $52.44 and a one year high of $69.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.87.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last announced its quarterly 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. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $973.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $973.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio 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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