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

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake 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 worth $537,288,000 after purchasing an additional 654,404 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 10.8% in 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 buying an additional 703,391 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 28.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,837,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 5.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,189,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,047,000 after acquiring an additional 257,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,841,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,876,000 after acquiring an additional 34,072 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SLF shares. StockNews.com cut 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 Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $56.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $35.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.04. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.41 and a 12 month high of $62.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.85.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

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

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.