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

Key Points

• Sun Life Financial Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average price target of C$88.11.
• Insider Thomas Murphy recently purchased 3,389 shares at C$79.37 each, indicating confidence in the company, while insiders have acquired a total of 4,262 shares valued at $338,105 over the last ninety days.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.88 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 4.1%, with a payout ratio of 59.75%.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$88.11.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SLF. Desjardins lowered their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. National Bankshares downgraded Sun Life Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from C$93.00 to C$87.00 in a research report on Friday, August 8th. TD Securities raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$89.00 to C$101.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$88.00 to C$83.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In other news, insider Thomas Murphy acquired 3,389 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$79.37 per share, for a total transaction of C$268,973.75. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 3,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$268,973.75. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Insiders acquired 4,262 shares of company stock valued at $338,105 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at C$86.45 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average price is C$81.82 and its 200 day moving average price is C$83.72. The company has a market cap of C$48.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 92.19. Sun Life Financial has a one year low of C$74.56 and a one year high of C$91.11.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 27th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.75%.

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.

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