Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.50.

Several brokerages have issued reports on SLF. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Monday, November 10th. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 target price on Sun Life Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Cibc Captl Mkts cut Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th.

Institutional Trading of Sun Life Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SLF. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sun Life Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $362,886,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $87,660,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 226.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,270,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,327,000 after buying an additional 882,070 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,422,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,691,568,000 after buying an additional 827,119 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1,441.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 854,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,760,000 after buying an additional 799,300 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $62.82 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.59. Sun Life Financial has a 12-month low of $52.44 and a 12-month high of $66.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71 and a beta of 0.87.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $944.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $944.53 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.93% and a net margin of 7.53%.During the same period last year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a $0.92 dividend. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 69.68%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is an international financial services organization that provides a range of insurance, wealth management and asset management solutions. The company serves individual and institutional clients, offering products designed to protect against life and health risks, help clients save for retirement, and manage investments on behalf of customers and third parties.

Core business activities include life and health insurance, group benefits for employers, retirement and pension products, and wealth management services such as mutual funds and segregated fund solutions.