Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$89.51 and last traded at C$89.35, with a volume of 656731 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$88.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SLF. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$87.00 to C$86.00 in a research note on Friday, May 9th. 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 research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$88.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$86.89.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.4%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$83.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$83.14. The stock has a market capitalization of C$50.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 92.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is currently 48.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 26,812 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$87.21, for a total transaction of C$2,338,274.52. Also, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 37,662 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$87.60, for a total value of C$3,299,191.20. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 144,522 shares of company stock valued at $12,657,675. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.