Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Sets New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• New 52-week high: Sun Life's shares hit a fresh 52-week high and last traded at C$93.87, while several analysts raised price targets (e.g., BMO to C$100, Jefferies to C$103) but the MarketBeat consensus remains a "Hold" with a C$96.67 target.
• Key fundamentals: market capitalization C$52.01 billion, P/E 15.26, quarterly EPS C$1.96 on C$8.67 billion revenue, and a recently paid annualized dividend of C$3.68 representing a 3.9% yield with a 57.24% payout ratio.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF's share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$19.24 and last traded at C$93.87, with a volume of 691018 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$92.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SLF shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$97.00 to C$103.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$96.00 to C$101.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$104.00 to C$102.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$93.00 to C$96.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$96.67.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 1.6%

The business's 50-day simple moving average is C$88.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$86.19. The firm has a market capitalization of C$52.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.49.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported C$1.96 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8.67 billion for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. Equities analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is 57.24%.

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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