Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) shares hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as C$114.53 and last traded at C$113.67, with a volume of 176761 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$113.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Desjardins set a C$101.00 price target on Sun Life Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial reduced their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD boosted their price target on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued 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, Sun Life Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.6%

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$104.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$94.28. The firm has a market capitalization of C$62.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.51, a current ratio of 6.03 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00.

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 (EPS) for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.04%.

Insider Transactions at Sun Life Financial

In other news, insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.32, for a total transaction of C$1,751,113.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$23,100.96. The trade was a 98.70% decrease in their position. Also, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the business’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 value of C$747,575.34. Following the transaction, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.