Northern Trust Corp Purchases 200,567 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 68.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 493,530 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 200,567 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Sun Life Financial worth $29,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 61.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,244 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the third quarter valued at $286,000. QV Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 1,352,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $80,261,000 after acquiring an additional 141,712 shares during the period. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 108,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company's stock.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLF traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.49. 272,520 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 661,496. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.41 and a 12 month high of $63.34. The company has a market cap of $35.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.08.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.6332 dividend. This represents a $2.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cormark raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Sun Life Financial from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.00.

Sun Life Financial Company 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.