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

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$84.18.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SLF. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$85.00 to C$96.00 in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 in a research report on Thursday. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$96.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$79.00 to C$82.00 in a research note on Thursday.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

SLF stock opened at C$84.88 on Monday. Sun Life Financial has a 52 week low of C$64.38 and a 52 week high of C$86.39. The firm has a market capitalization of C$48.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$78.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$72.32. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 65.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.77.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In related news, Director Kevin Strain sold 85,943 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$84.71, for a total value of C$7,280,231.53. Also, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$75.30, for a total transaction of C$150,590.00. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.