Ballast Inc. Invests $212,000 in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Ballast Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 23,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 13,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth $150,000. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 83.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 1,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Sun Life Financial stock opened at $54.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.57 and a 52-week high of $55.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.06. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 7.79%. The company had revenue of $13.73 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.581 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.

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.