Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Stock

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Scotiabank from C$98.00 to C$111.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective points to a potential downside of 2.71% from the company’s previous close.

SLF has been the subject of several other research reports. Desjardins set a C$101.00 target price on Sun Life Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$116.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD lifted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$105.09.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 2.0%

SLF traded up C$2.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching C$114.09. 509,896 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,939,056. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 6.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.51. The stock has a market capitalization of C$63.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$105.00 and its 200 day moving average is C$94.71. Sun Life Financial has a 12 month low of C$77.38 and a 12 month high of C$114.53.

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

Insider Transactions at Sun Life Financial

In other news, insider Manjit Singh sold 188,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$56,450.40. This represents a 99.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Linda Dougherty sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.40, for a total value of C$354,900.00. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.