Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys Shares of 122,919 Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 122,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,295,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $286,000. QV Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 1,352,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,261,000 after buying an additional 141,712 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 108,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,428,000 after buying an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 65,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,863,000 after acquiring an additional 2,507 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company's stock.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SLF traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.87. 3,796,173 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 668,754. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.41 and a fifty-two week high of $63.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.18. The firm has a market cap of $35.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 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. As a group, analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.6332 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $2.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SLF. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cormark upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, 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 report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.