Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 434 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 7.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,256,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,288,000 after buying an additional 654,404 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,841,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,876,000 after acquiring an additional 34,072 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,192,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $427,712,000 after acquiring an additional 703,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the third quarter worth about $878,000. 52.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:SLF opened at $56.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $35.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $56.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.85. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.41 and a 52 week 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.5876 per share. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 60.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SLF shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. National Bank Financial upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Cormark raised Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About Sun Life Financial

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.