Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $74.84 and traded as high as $80.25. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at $79.51, with a volume of 300,201 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from $98.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.67.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 1.2%

The firm has a market cap of $43.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.95.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $994.33 million. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th were given a dividend of C$0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 64.02%.

Institutional Trading of Sun Life Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $81,587,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,888,000. Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $35,531,000. Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $1,637,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $78,481,000. 52.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc is a Canadian financial services company that provides insurance, wealth, and asset management products to individuals, businesses, and institutions. The company serves clients through operations in Canada, the United States, and several markets in Asia.

Its insurance offerings include life, health, dental, disability, long-term care, and critical illness coverage, as well as annuities and employee benefits. Sun Life also provides retirement savings and investment products, including mutual funds and other wealth solutions for individuals and workplace plan members.

Through its asset management businesses, Sun Life manages investments for institutional and retail clients across a range of asset classes.