Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Price Target Raised to C$111.00

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) had its price objective raised by Scotiabank from C$98.00 to C$111.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on SLF. Evercore cut shares of Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$111.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins set a C$101.00 price objective on Sun Life Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$105.09.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

TSE SLF opened at C$114.74 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 6.03, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is C$106.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$95.25. Sun Life Financial has a 1 year low of C$77.38 and a 1 year high of C$115.22. The firm has a market capitalization of C$63.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 EPS for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.96 dividend. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Manjit Singh sold 188,312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$103.20, for a total transaction of C$19,433,798.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 547 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$56,450.40. This trade represents a 99.71% decrease in their position. Also, insider Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 35,000 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$97.80, for a total transaction of C$3,423,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$103,081.20. The trade was a 97.08% decrease in their position. Over the last three months, insiders sold 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.