Analysts Set Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Target Price at C$86.89

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$86.89.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Securities lifted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$86.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. National Bankshares lowered their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. CIBC lowered their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$94.00 to C$89.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$87.00 to C$86.00 in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Stephen Peacher sold 80,048 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$87.70, for a total transaction of C$7,020,209.60. Also, Senior Officer Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 26,812 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$87.21, for a total value of C$2,338,274.52. Insiders sold a total of 188,721 shares of company stock worth $16,554,701 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

SLF stock traded down C$0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching C$89.02. 1,923,820 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,314,626. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$83.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$83.23. Sun Life Financial has a twelve month low of C$64.38 and a twelve month high of C$89.73. The company has a market capitalization of C$50.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00, a current ratio of 92.19 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is currently 48.87%.

About Sun Life Financial

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.