Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Given New C$125.00 Price Target at National Bank Financial

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) had its target price raised by National Bank Financial from C$108.00 to C$125.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. TD lifted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$107.00 to C$121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$98.00 to C$111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore downgraded Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$111.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, July 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$116.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$109.36.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.1%

SLF opened at C$114.76 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$107.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$96.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.51, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 6.03. The firm has a market cap of C$63.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79. Sun Life Financial has a twelve month low of C$77.38 and a twelve month high of C$115.45.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The company had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. Equities 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.