Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from C$87.00 to C$93.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Sun Life Financial traded as high as C$19.20 and last traded at C$88.86, with a volume of 553222 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$88.78.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Sun Life Financial to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$84.00 price target on shares of Sun Life Financial and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$93.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$104.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$83.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$93.22.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.2%

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$85.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$83.91. The firm has a market capitalization of C$49.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. 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 (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported C$1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The firm had revenue of C$9.07 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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. Sun Life generates about a third of its profit from asset-management operations.