Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$103.14 and last traded at C$102.81, with a volume of 342457 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$101.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on SLF shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$104.00 to C$102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. National Bank Financial lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$93.00 to C$96.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$95.61 and a 200-day moving average price of C$89.52. The stock has a market cap of C$56.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.84.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last posted 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 return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.96 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sun Life Financial news, insider Linda Dougherty bought 6,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$97.97 per share, with a total value of C$660,317.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,480 shares in the company, valued at C$1,320,635.60. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.49, for a total value of C$747,575.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 position. Insiders have sold 192,686 shares of company stock worth $18,837,806 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.