Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Raised to "Hold" at Scotiabank

Key Points

• Sun Life Financial was upgraded to a "hold" rating by analysts at Scotiabank, while other firms have mixed views, including Barclays which downgraded the stock to a "strong sell".
• The company's average price target is currently set at C$88.38, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.
• Sun Life Financial's stock is down 1.4% and currently trading at C$83.33, closer to its 12-month low of C$64.38.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF was upgraded by analysts at Scotiabank to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on SLF. Barclays cut Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. National Bankshares lowered their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$94.00 to C$93.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. TD Securities raised their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$86.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. CIBC lowered their target price on 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$96.00 to C$90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$88.38.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 1.4%

SLF opened at C$83.33 on Thursday. Sun Life Financial has a 12 month low of C$64.38 and a 12 month high of C$91.11. 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. The stock has a market cap of C$47.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50 day moving average price is C$87.22 and its 200 day moving average price is C$83.62.

Insider Transactions at Sun Life Financial

In other news, Director Kevin Strain purchased 3,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$89.10 per share, for a total transaction of C$343,035.00. Also, Senior Officer Stephen Peacher sold 80,048 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$87.70, for a total value of C$7,020,209.60. Insiders have sold a total of 188,721 shares of company stock valued at $16,554,701 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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