Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Technical boost: Sun Life's shares crossed above the 200-day moving average (C$85.66), trading as high as C$88.33 and last at C$87.34 on volume of ~2.43M, signaling a bullish technical shift.
• Mixed analyst view: Several recent price-target upgrades were reported, but the consensus remains a Hold with a target of C$96.44.
• Fundamentals & income: Market cap C$48.38B, PE 14.2 and quarterly EPS C$1.96, with a recently paid dividend that annualizes to C$3.68 for a 4.2% yield (payout ratio 57.24%).

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF's share price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$85.66 and traded as high as C$88.33. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at C$87.34, with a volume of 2,430,568 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$83.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$97.00 to C$103.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$93.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$96.44.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$88.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$85.66. The firm has a market cap of C$48.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.76.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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