FY2024 EPS Forecast for Sun Life Financial Raised by Analyst

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Free Report) NYSE: SLF - National Bank Financial boosted their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Sun Life Financial in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, January 14th. National Bank Financial analyst G. Dechaine now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $6.77 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $6.75. National Bank Financial has a "Strong-Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Sun Life Financial's current full-year earnings is $6.92 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Sun Life Financial's Q4 2024 earnings at $1.82 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.58 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.36 EPS.

SLF has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$85.00 to C$96.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Cormark increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, National Bankshares upgraded Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$82.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$86.64.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of TSE SLF traded up C$0.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching C$84.98. 689,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,117,753. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 65.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.77. The firm has a market cap of C$48.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$85.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$77.15. Sun Life Financial has a twelve month low of C$64.38 and a twelve month high of C$88.54.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is presently 61.36%.

Insider Activity at Sun Life Financial

In other news, Director Kevin Strain sold 85,943 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$84.71, for a total transaction of C$7,280,231.53. Also, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty purchased 5,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$84.83 per share, with a total value of C$492,014.00. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.