Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Shares Down 5% After Analyst Downgrade

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF's stock price dropped 5% on Friday after National Bankshares lowered their price target on the stock from C$73.00 to C$72.00. The company traded as low as C$69.04 and last traded at C$69.78. Approximately 642,574 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 1,791,874 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$73.43.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$70.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$71.00 in a report on Friday. CIBC upped their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$77.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$76.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In related news, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned by insiders.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of C$72.34 and a 200 day moving average of C$69.96. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 6.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 78.47. The stock has a market capitalization of C$39.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported C$1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of C$1.59 by C$0.09. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company had revenue of C$18.68 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9056785 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.