Analysts Set Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Price Target at C$101.60

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$101.60.

Several brokerages have weighed in on SLF. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Desjardins set a C$101.00 price target on shares of Sun Life Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$97.80, for a total transaction of C$3,423,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$103,081.20. This represents a 97.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Linda Dougherty purchased 6,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$97.97 per share, for a total transaction of C$660,317.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 13,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,320,635.60. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 164,537 shares of company stock valued at $15,984,217 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at C$100.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$55.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. Sun Life Financial has a 1-year low of C$77.38 and a 1-year high of C$101.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$93.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$88.56.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 12.98%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9230769 EPS 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 represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 67.04%.

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.