Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$101.60.

SLF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of SLF stock opened at C$99.17 on Friday. Sun Life Financial has a 1 year low of C$77.38 and a 1 year high of C$101.94. The stock has a market cap of C$54.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$93.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$88.80.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 EPS for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The business had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. Analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.04%.

Insider Activity at Sun Life Financial

In other news, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$101.49, for a total transaction of C$747,575.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,412,334.84. This represents a 34.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Linda Dougherty purchased 6,740 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$97.97 per share, with a total value of C$660,317.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 13,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,320,635.60. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,686 shares of company stock valued at $18,837,806. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

Sun Life Financial is one of Canada’s Big Three life insurance companies along with Great-West Lifeco and Manulife. Sun Life provides insurance, retirement, and wealth-management services to individual and corporate customers in Canada, the United States, and Asia. It also owns MFS Investment Management, a Boston-based asset-management firm. Sun Life generates about a third of its profit from asset-management operations.