Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Stock Price Down 8.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF - Get Free Report) NYSE: SLF's share price was down 8.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday after CIBC lowered their price target on the stock from C$97.00 to C$95.00. The stock traded as low as C$76.70 and last traded at C$77.12. Approximately 927,602 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 1,613,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$84.63.

SLF has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Securities raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$81.00 to C$87.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Cormark upped their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$98.00 to C$94.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, National Bankshares dropped their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$93.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$87.10.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of C$84.34 and a 200 day moving average of C$79.73. The company has a market capitalization of C$44.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 92.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.87%.

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.