Asset Planning Inc Invests $40,000 in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake 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 worth $3,635,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 47,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,843,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Five Oceans Advisors raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 3,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,291,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 124.9% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:SLF opened at $55.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.03. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.41 and a 1-year high of $62.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.09.

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

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.5876 per share. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 57.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment 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 MarketBeat, the company presently 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.