Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Downgraded by Royal Bank Of Canada to Hold

Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

SLF has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$84.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cibc Captl Mkts cut Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group upgraded Sun Life Financial to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Argus upgraded Sun Life Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$90.00.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of SLF traded down C$1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching C$82.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,653,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,027,613. Sun Life Financial has a 52-week low of C$74.56 and a 52-week high of C$91.11. The firm has a market cap of C$45.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is C$83.84 and its 200 day moving average is C$84.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00, a current ratio of 92.19 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sun Life Financial news, insider Thomas Murphy purchased 3,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$79.37 per share, with a total value of C$268,973.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$268,973.75. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 4,262 shares of company stock worth $338,105. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.