Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$112.73 and last traded at C$112.31, with a volume of 311397 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$111.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLF. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. TD boosted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins set a C$101.00 target price on Sun Life Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. National Bank Financial lowered their target price on 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.48, a current ratio of 6.03 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is C$102.22 and its 200 day moving average is C$92.93. The firm has a market capitalization of C$62.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.84.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 9.12%. As a group, 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 was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.96 dividend. 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 yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,412,334.84. This represents a 34.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Kevin Strain sold 104,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$96.99, for a total transaction of C$10,159,120.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 42,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$4,073,580. The trade was a 71.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605. Corporate 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.