Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$91.89 and traded as high as C$110.86. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at C$110.02, with a volume of 1,301,427 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial reduced their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Desjardins set a C$101.00 price objective on Sun Life Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.48, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 6.03. The firm has a market cap of C$60.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$100.59 and a 200 day moving average of C$91.89.

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

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 228 shares in the company, valued at C$23,100.96. This trade represents a 98.70% decrease in their position. Also, insider Manjit Singh sold 188,312 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$103.20, for a total transaction of C$19,433,798.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$56,450.40. This represents a 99.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 380,998 shares of company stock worth $38,271,605 in the last three months. 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.