Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Stock Crosses Below 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s stock price crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$84.21 and traded as low as C$83.29. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at C$83.75, with a volume of 2,208,251 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Desjardins upped their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Sun Life Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$96.00 to C$98.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group raised Sun Life Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$84.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$91.44.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 92.19, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00. The stock has a market capitalization of C$46.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of C$83.96 and a 200-day moving average price of C$84.21.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported C$1.86 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$9.07 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 7.58%. Research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.15%.

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.