Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $96.3333.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Sun Life Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of SLF stock opened at $78.82 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.68. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of $57.22 and a fifty-two week high of $84.38. The stock has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 0.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. The company had revenue of $10.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.33 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 52.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is an international financial services organization that provides a range of insurance, wealth management and asset management solutions. The company serves individual and institutional clients, offering products designed to protect against life and health risks, help clients save for retirement, and manage investments on behalf of customers and third parties.

Core business activities include life and health insurance, group benefits for employers, retirement and pension products, and wealth management services such as mutual funds and segregated fund solutions.