Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Sun Life Financial has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 13 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of C$109.36. Recent targets range from C$111 to C$131, though Evercore downgraded the stock to “hold.”
• Shares opened at C$114.72 and have traded between C$77.38 and C$118.99 over the past year. The company reported quarterly EPS of C$1.89 on C$8.73 billion in revenue.
• Sun Life raised its quarterly dividend to $0.96, or $3.84 annualized, representing a 3.3% yield. Insiders sold 380,998 shares worth approximately $38.3 million during the last quarter.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$109.36.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SLF. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$98.00 to C$111.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. TD boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$107.00 to C$121.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore downgraded Sun Life Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a C$111.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$115.00 to C$131.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, National Bank Financial increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$108.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.9%

SLF stock opened at C$114.72 on Thursday. Sun Life Financial has a 52 week low of C$77.38 and a 52 week high of C$118.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of C$110.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$97.98. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 6.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.51. The company has a market cap of C$63.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.80.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 12.89%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is currently 67.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$97.80, for a total transaction of C$3,423,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$103,081.20. This trade represents a 97.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.49, for a total transaction of C$747,575.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,412,334.84. This represents a 34.61% decrease in their position. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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. Sun Life generates about a third of its profit from asset-management operations.

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