Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$112.73 and last traded at C$112.31, with a volume of 311397 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$111.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SLF. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. TD boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins set a C$101.00 price objective on Sun Life Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 6.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.48. The company has a market cap of C$62.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$102.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$92.93.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 EPS for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of C$8.73 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$97.80, for a total transaction of C$3,423,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$103,081.20. This trade represents a 97.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Kevin Strain sold 104,744 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$96.99, for a total value of C$10,159,120.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 42,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$4,073,580. The trade was a 71.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold 380,998 shares of company stock worth $38,271,605 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.