Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after National Bank Financial raised their price target on the stock from C$108.00 to C$125.00. National Bank Financial currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Sun Life Financial traded as high as C$116.12 and last traded at C$115.86, with a volume of 284491 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$114.76.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SLF. TD raised their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$107.00 to C$121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$115.00 to C$131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$116.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$98.00 to C$111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$109.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In other news, insider Manjit Singh sold 188,312 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$103.20, for a total value of C$19,433,798.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$56,450.40. The trade was a 99.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$101.32, for a total value of C$1,751,113.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$23,100.96. The trade was a 98.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$64.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.51, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 6.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$107.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$96.12.

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

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

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.