Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two 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 company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$86.73.

Several brokerages have issued reports on SLF. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. National Bankshares raised Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from C$82.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$96.00 to C$97.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$87.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Sun Life Financial stock traded down C$0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting C$82.70. 3,160,084 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,319,369. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.77, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 65.29. The company has a market cap of C$47.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$85.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$78.78. Sun Life Financial has a 12 month low of C$64.38 and a 12 month high of C$88.54.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported C$1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of C$1.71 by C$0.05. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.90% and a return on equity of 13.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.36%.

Insider Activity

In other Sun Life Financial news, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty bought 5,800 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$84.83 per share, for a total transaction of C$492,014.00. Also, Director Kevin Strain sold 85,943 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.