50,742 Shares in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF Bought by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 50,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,982,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $544,052,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $398,037,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,529,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,181,000 after purchasing an additional 347,041 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 86.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,952,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,896,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,542,000 after purchasing an additional 36,698 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of SLF opened at $80.73 on Friday. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.22 and a 1-year high of $84.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.87.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.33 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. On average, research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SLF. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Argus increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.67.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is an international financial services organization that provides a range of insurance, wealth management and asset management solutions. The company serves individual and institutional clients, offering products designed to protect against life and health risks, help clients save for retirement, and manage investments on behalf of customers and third parties.

Core business activities include life and health insurance, group benefits for employers, retirement and pension products, and wealth management services such as mutual funds and segregated fund solutions.