Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$84.35 and traded as high as C$90.88. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at C$90.84, with a volume of 3,112,486 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on SLF shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays lowered their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$83.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$97.00 to C$103.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities decreased their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$104.00 to C$102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$94.00 to C$93.00 in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$96.44.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.5%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$87.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$84.35. The company has a market capitalization of C$50.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00, a current ratio of 92.19 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported C$1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 7.58%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 57.24%.

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.