Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Shares Purchased by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 28.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,458 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $1,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 62,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,635,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 47,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,843,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 3,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,291,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 124.9% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

NYSE SLF opened at $55.30 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.10. The company has a market capitalization of $34.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.03. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.41 and a 12 month high of $62.85.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 17.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.5876 dividend. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.