Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Receives C$77.18 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$77.18.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 note on Friday, February 9th. National Bankshares increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$72.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$77.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Desjardins raised their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of SLF opened at C$71.75 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is C$72.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$69.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 78.47, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 6.81. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of C$61.84 and a fifty-two week high of C$74.94. The company has a market capitalization of C$41.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. This is a positive change 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sun Life Financial news, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$74.45, for a total value 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.