Analysts Set Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Price Target at C$76.50

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$76.50.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. CIBC boosted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$62.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore increased their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sun Life Financial news, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 16,000 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$74.45, for a total value of C$1,191,120.00. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock traded up C$0.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting C$72.59. The company had a trading volume of 788,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,960. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 78.47, a current ratio of 6.81 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00. The company's 50-day moving average is C$72.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$69.16. The company has a market cap of C$42.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96. Sun Life Financial has a twelve month low of C$61.84 and a twelve month high of C$74.94.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported C$1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of C$1.59 by C$0.09. The business had revenue of C$18.68 billion for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 10.26%. Analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9482759 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.32%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.