Aigen Investment Management LP Invests $440,000 in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,615,788,000 after purchasing an additional 534,772 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter worth $398,037,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,991,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $373,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,583 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,529,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,181,000 after purchasing an additional 347,041 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 86.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,952,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834,772 shares during the period. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SLF. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.67.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:SLF opened at $76.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 0.90. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.22 and a 52-week high of $77.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.76.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 7.85%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.94%.

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.