Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Upgraded by National Bankshares to Outperform Rating

National Bankshares upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF - Free Report) NYSE: SLF from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have C$95.00 price objective on the financial services provider's stock, up from their previous price objective of C$82.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Cormark raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$85.00 to C$96.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$81.00 to C$87.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$86.64.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

SLF stock traded up C$1.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting C$84.41. 1,172,285 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,160,625. 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 stock has a market cap of C$48.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50-day moving average price is C$84.96 and its 200-day moving average price is C$77.03. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of C$64.38 and a fifty-two week high of C$88.54.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is currently 61.36%.

Insider Transactions at Sun Life Financial

In related news, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty purchased 5,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 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. 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.