Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Sun Life's stock hit a new 52-week high after Jefferies raised its price target to C$115, with shares trading near C$98.88 intraday.
• Several brokerages boosted targets or upgraded ratings, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$99.78 (ratings mix: 1 Strong Buy, 4 Buy, 4 Hold, 1 Sell).
• Key fundamentals: market cap C$54.44 billion, P/E 15.98, and a quarterly dividend of $0.92 (annualized $3.68) yielding about 3.7% with a payout ratio of 57.24%.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF's stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from C$103.00 to C$115.00. The company traded as high as C$98.88 and last traded at C$98.54, with a volume of 202329 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$97.87.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on SLF. 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. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a C$109.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$93.00 to C$96.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of 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, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$99.78.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.4%

The firm's fifty day moving average price is C$90.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$87.14. The stock has a market cap of C$54.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.49, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00.

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

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.24%.

About Sun Life Financial

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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