Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF.TO) - What Are Investment Firms Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts have a mixed, broadly neutral view: Six of 11 rate Sun Life Financial a Hold and five rate it Buy; the average 12-month price target is C$116.50.
• Sun Life reported quarterly earnings of C$2.05 per share on C$8.79 billion in revenue, and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.96 to $1.00, equivalent to a 3.8% yield.
• Company insiders sold a combined 179,448 shares worth about $19.9 million over the prior 90 days.

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$116.50.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SLF shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$98.00 to C$119.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Scotiabank raised Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a C$122.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$96.00 to C$98.00 in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Desjardins upped their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$120.00 to C$122.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from C$124.00 to C$120.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 5th.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of SLF stock opened at C$103.95 on Friday. Sun Life Financial has a twelve month low of C$79.99 and a twelve month high of C$118.99. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 23.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$110.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$102.90. The company has a market cap of C$57.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.67.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported C$2.05 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.79 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 12.66%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 25th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 15,114 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$110.05, for a total value of C$1,663,295.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$3,095,046.20. The trade was a 34.96% decrease in their position. Also, Director Kevin Strain sold 101,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$110.86, for a total transaction of C$11,261,158.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 42,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$4,656,120. The trade was a 70.75% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold a total of 179,448 shares of company stock valued at $19,874,331 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2025, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.55 trillion.

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