Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Shares Pass Above 200-Day Moving Average of $69.42

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s share price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$69.42 and traded as high as C$70.33. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at C$70.30, with a volume of 1,084,115 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on SLF shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. National Bankshares raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$71.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Evercore raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Desjardins raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$70.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$76.82.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$72.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$69.42. The stock has a market capitalization of C$40.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 6.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 78.47.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported C$1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.59 by C$0.09. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 10.26%. The company had revenue of C$18.68 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9036382 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sun Life Financial news, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$74.45, for a total value of C$1,191,120.00. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Company 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.