Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Insider Sells C$1,751,113.56 in Stock

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$101.32, for a total transaction of C$1,751,113.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 228 shares in the company, valued at C$23,100.96. This represents a 98.70% decrease in their position.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Sun Life Financial stock opened at C$99.08 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$94.18 and its 200 day moving average price is C$88.88. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of C$77.38 and a 1 year high of C$101.94. The stock has a market capitalization of C$54.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SLF shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$93.00 to C$96.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. National Bank Financial lowered their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$104.00 to C$102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Desjardins set a C$101.00 target price on shares of Sun Life Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.