Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd Invests $1.64 Million in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,637,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,615,788,000 after acquiring an additional 534,772 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $544,052,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter worth $398,037,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.7% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 86.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,952,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,645,000 after buying an additional 1,834,772 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Monday, August 10th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Sun Life Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.33.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at $79.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.26 and a 200 day moving average of $72.33. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.22 and a 12 month high of $84.38. The firm has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49 and a beta of 0.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $10.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.33 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 7.66%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.12%.

Sun Life Financial Profile

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.