Man Group plc Sells 315,986 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Man Group plc cut its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 34.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 610,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 315,986 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $36,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,192,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $427,712,000 after buying an additional 703,391 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,596,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,743,000 after buying an additional 15,908 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 295.5% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,911,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,453,000 after buying an additional 1,427,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $526,000. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Cormark raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.00.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

SLF stock opened at $62.63 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $57.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.14. The company has a market capitalization of $35.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.41 and a 1-year high of $63.34.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.44 billion. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 16.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.6332 per share. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $2.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 62.09%.

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.