Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Insider Jacques Jr. Goulet Sells 11,740 Shares of Stock

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) insider Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 11,740 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$97.09, for a total transaction of C$1,139,836.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$102,332.86. This represents a 91.76% decrease in their position.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Sun Life Financial stock opened at C$97.01 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$91.18 and a 200-day moving average price of C$87.70. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of C$77.38 and a fifty-two week high of C$101.15. The company has a market capitalization of C$53.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SLF. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$93.00 to C$96.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, National Bank Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$101.60.

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. Sun Life generates about a third of its profit from asset-management operations.