Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires New Position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 7,959.7% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 45,648,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,367,326,000 after buying an additional 45,082,012 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,882,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,186,706,000 after buying an additional 410,759 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 15,665,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $816,424,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035,394 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,725,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $504,371,000 after purchasing an additional 673,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,170,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $372,463,000 after purchasing an additional 464,126 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SLF traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.28. The stock had a trading volume of 306,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,604. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a one year low of $44.57 and a one year high of $55.46. The company has a market cap of $29.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.84 and its 200-day moving average is $51.63.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.09). Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.94% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.25 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.588 per share. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Argus raised shares of Sun Life Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd.

Sun Life Financial 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.