Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$77.77 and traded as high as C$85.04. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at C$84.67, with a volume of 1,072,796 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Cormark boosted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$85.00 to C$96.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$87.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. National Bankshares raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from C$82.00 to C$95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$86.64.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of C$48.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$85.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$78.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.77, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 65.29.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported C$1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.71 by C$0.05. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.90% and a return on equity of 13.65%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In other news, Director Kevin Strain sold 85,943 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$84.71, for a total transaction of C$7,280,231.53. Also, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty purchased 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$84.83 per share, for a total transaction of C$492,014.00. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.