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

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after CIBC raised their price target on the stock from C$77.00 to C$80.00. CIBC currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Sun Life Financial traded as high as C$16.80 and last traded at C$70.42, with a volume of 488214 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$70.52.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SLF. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$73.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, National Bankshares upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$72.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$77.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In other Sun Life Financial news, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$74.45, for a total value of C$1,191,120.00. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of C$40.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$72.49 and its 200-day moving average is C$69.69. The company has a current ratio of 6.81, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 78.47.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported C$1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.59 by C$0.09. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of C$18.68 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9036382 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 59.32%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.