National Bank of Canada FI Has $311.07 Million Stock Holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,067,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200,865 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 1.04% of Sun Life Financial worth $311,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intrust Bank NA grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 4,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 5,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 13,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 22,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.8 %

SLF stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.48. The stock had a trading volume of 387,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 574,018. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.00. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.57 and a 52 week high of $55.46.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.73 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 7.79%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.581 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.79%.

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.