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

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$86.67.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SLF. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$88.00 to C$84.00 in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Argus upgraded Sun Life Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Desjardins dropped their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

SLF stock opened at C$82.06 on Friday. Sun Life Financial has a 1-year low of C$74.56 and a 1-year high of C$91.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$82.55 and a 200 day moving average price of C$83.33. The company has a market capitalization of C$46.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00, a current ratio of 92.19 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.75%.

Insider Activity at Sun Life Financial

In related news, insider Thomas Murphy acquired 3,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$79.37 per share, with a total value of C$268,973.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 3,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$268,973.75. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 4,262 shares of company stock worth $338,105. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Sun Life Financial

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.