Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Posts Earnings Results

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported C$2.02 EPS for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 12.89%.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

SLF stock traded up C$0.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching C$115.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,951,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,924,568. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is C$110.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$97.98. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of C$77.38 and a fifty-two week high of C$118.99. The stock has a market cap of C$64.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.80.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.04%.

Insider Activity at Sun Life Financial

In other news, insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.32, for a total transaction of C$1,751,113.56. Following the transaction, the insider owned 228 shares in the company, valued at C$23,100.96. The trade was a 98.70% decrease in their position. Also, insider Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$97.80, for a total transaction of C$3,423,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$103,081.20. The trade was a 97.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold a total of 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$111.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$115.00 to C$131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. TD upped their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$107.00 to C$121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Desjardins set a C$101.00 price target on Sun Life Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$109.36.

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.