Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 4,689 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,935 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,689 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $2,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 28,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,693,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 47,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,843,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 3,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of SLF traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $57.12. The stock had a trading volume of 338,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,654. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.77 and a 200 day moving average of $57.93. The company has a market cap of $35.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.04. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.41 and a 52 week high of $62.85.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.5876 dividend. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cormark upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

About Sun Life Financial

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.