Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF's share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$77.77 and traded as high as C$85.04. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at C$84.67, with a volume of 1,072,796 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cormark boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$96.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$86.64.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

The business's 50 day simple moving average is C$85.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$77.90. The company has a current ratio of 65.29, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.77. The firm has a market capitalization of C$48.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported C$1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.71 by C$0.05. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 9.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is 61.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In other Sun Life Financial news, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty bought 5,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought 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 Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$84.71, for a total transaction of C$7,280,231.53. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.