Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Receives $86.50 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.50.

SLF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Monday, November 10th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on Sun Life Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $244,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 62,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,599,000 after purchasing an additional 11,161 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 80,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,582,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,100,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $921,330,000 after buying an additional 374,682 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of SLF stock opened at $58.70 on Friday. Sun Life Financial has a twelve month low of $52.44 and a twelve month high of $66.81. The stock has a market cap of $32.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.26 and a 200 day moving average of $61.29.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $944.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.53 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.21% and a net margin of 7.59%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.41%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.