JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,733,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 243,323 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.49% of Sun Life Financial worth $164,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 28.6% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 24,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 5,341 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 4.6% in the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 86.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tacita Capital Inc boosted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 450.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SLF shares. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. National Bank Financial restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SLF opened at $66.36 on Friday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.44 and a fifty-two week high of $69.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.91. The company has a market capitalization of $36.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.06. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 8.48%.The firm 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 firm posted $1.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.55%.

About Sun Life Financial

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.