Evercore Reaffirms "In-Line" Rating for Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF)

Key Points

• Evercore reiterated its "in-line" rating on Sun Life Financial, while other analysts remain mixed, including an underweight from Barclays and outperform calls from National Bank Financial and BMO Capital Markets.
• MarketBeat says Sun Life Financial currently has an average analyst rating of Moderate Buy with an average target price of $84.67.
• The stock was trading at $78.58 on Monday, near its 52-week high of $80.90, after the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates with $1.38 per share.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF's stock had its "in-line" rating restated by analysts at Evercore in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports.

SLF has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Monday, July 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.67.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

NYSE SLF traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $78.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 110,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 673,248. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $74.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.32. Sun Life Financial has a 52-week low of $56.22 and a 52-week high of $80.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24 and a beta of 0.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 7.85%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Sun Life Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $244,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 4,270 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 66.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company's stock.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

Sun Life Financial Inc, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is an international financial services organization that provides a range of insurance, wealth management and asset management solutions. The company serves individual and institutional clients, offering products designed to protect against life and health risks, help clients save for retirement, and manage investments on behalf of customers and third parties.

Core business activities include life and health insurance, group benefits for employers, retirement and pension products, and wealth management services such as mutual funds and segregated fund solutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.