Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Insider Melissa Jane Kennedy Sells 7,366 Shares

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$101.49, for a total value of C$747,575.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,412,334.84. The trade was a 34.61% decrease in their position.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of TSE SLF opened at C$99.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$54.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 52-week low of C$77.38 and a 52-week high of C$101.94. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$93.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$88.80.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$8.73 billion for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 9.12%. Analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD raised their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$93.00 to C$96.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. National Bank Financial decreased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$104.00 to C$102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$101.60.

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.