Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from C$98.00 to C$111.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Sun Life Financial traded as high as C$115.13 and last traded at C$114.82, with a volume of 363628 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$114.20.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SLF. Desjardins set a C$101.00 target price on shares of Sun Life Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$105.09.

Insider Activity

In other Sun Life Financial news, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.49, for a total transaction of C$747,575.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,412,334.84. The trade was a 34.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$97.80, for a total value of C$3,423,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,054 shares in the company, valued at C$103,081.20. This trade represents a 97.08% decrease in their position. Insiders sold a total of 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.4%

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 has a 50 day moving average price of C$105.69 and a 200-day moving average price of C$95.11. The firm has a market cap of C$63.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

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

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.