Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from C$98.00 to C$111.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Sun Life Financial traded as high as C$115.13 and last traded at C$114.82, with a volume of 363628 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$114.20.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on SLF. TD increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore cut Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$111.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday. Desjardins set a C$101.00 price objective on Sun Life Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial decreased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$105.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In related news, insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.32, for a total transaction of C$1,751,113.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$23,100.96. This trade represents a 98.70% decrease in their position. Also, insider Manjit Singh sold 188,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$103.20, for a total value of C$19,433,798.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 547 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$56,450.40. This represents a 99.71% decrease in their position. Insiders sold 380,998 shares of company stock worth $38,271,605 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.51, a current ratio of 6.03 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00. The firm has a market capitalization of C$63.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$105.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$94.91.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 9.12%.The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 67.04%.

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.