Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$105.09.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SLF. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$116.00 in a report on Wednesday. Evercore lowered Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$111.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SLF opened at C$114.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$63.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79. Sun Life Financial has a 52-week low of C$77.38 and a 52-week high of C$115.22. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 6.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$106.07 and a 200 day moving average price of C$95.25.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share 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. Research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.96 dividend. 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 an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 67.04%.

Insider Activity at Sun Life Financial

In other Sun Life Financial news, insider Manjit Singh sold 188,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$103.20, for a total transaction of C$19,433,798.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 547 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$56,450.40. This represents a 99.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.49, for a total value of C$747,575.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at C$1,412,334.84. This trade represents a 34.61% decrease in their position. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 380,998 shares of company stock worth $38,271,605. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Sun Life Financial

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.