Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Receives C$76.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$76.50.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SLF shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$62.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, National Bankshares upped their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$71.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

SLF stock opened at C$70.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 78.47, a current ratio of 6.81 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00. Sun Life Financial has a 1-year low of C$61.84 and a 1-year high of C$74.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$72.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$69.26. The firm has a market cap of C$41.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported C$1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.59 by C$0.09. The business 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%. Research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9482759 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In other news, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was 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.

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.