WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. $SLF

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 18,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,172,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SLF. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $398,037,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 58.3% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,012,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $125,598,000 after buying an additional 741,136 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,788,000 after buying an additional 534,772 shares in the last quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the third quarter valued at $27,570,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 10.6% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,859,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,816,000 after purchasing an additional 371,139 shares during the period. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLF has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.50.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

SLF opened at $73.76 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.04. The company has a market capitalization of $40.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.89. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.22 and a 1 year high of $74.16.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 7.85%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.94%.

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.