Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Sun Life Financial Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" from nine brokerages, with one sell, four hold, and four buy ratings.
• The stock's average one-year price objective among brokerages is C$86.67, with recent updates raising it from C$83.00 to C$86.00.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.88 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.3%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 27th.

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$86.67.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SLF shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$88.00 to C$83.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. National Bankshares downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from C$93.00 to C$87.00 in a report on Friday, August 8th. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$94.00 to C$89.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$86.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered Sun Life Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sun Life Financial news, Director Kevin Strain bought 3,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$89.10 per share, for a total transaction of C$343,035.00. Also, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 37,662 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$87.60, for a total transaction of C$3,299,191.20. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of TSE SLF traded down C$0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting C$81.49. 4,098,009 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,082,900. The company's 50 day moving average price is C$84.99 and its 200 day moving average price is C$83.31. Sun Life Financial has a 12 month low of C$72.14 and a 12 month high of C$91.11. The stock has a market capitalization of C$46.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 92.19, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is presently 48.87%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.