Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Hits New 1-Year High at $17.25

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as C$17.25 and last traded at C$72.63, with a volume of 458160 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$71.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SLF. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Evercore increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Desjardins upped their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$70.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$77.18.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$72.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$69.91. The company has a current ratio of 6.81, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 78.47. The stock has a market capitalization of C$42.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported C$1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.59 by C$0.09. The company had revenue of C$18.68 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 13.98%. On average, equities analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9056785 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$74.45, for a total transaction of C$1,191,120.00. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.