Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Insider Sells C$747,575.34 in Stock

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$101.49, for a total transaction of C$747,575.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,412,334.84. This trade represents a 34.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of SLF opened at C$99.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of C$54.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of C$77.38 and a twelve month high of C$101.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$94.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$88.88.

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

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 67.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD raised their target price 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. 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins set a C$101.00 target price on shares of Sun Life Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.