Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s share price reached 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at C$113.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bank Financial dropped 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 report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$104.16 and a 200-day moving average price of C$94.15. The firm has a market capitalization of C$62.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, 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 quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 6.03.

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 EPS for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 9.12%.The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately C$1,412,334.84. This represents a 34.61% decrease in their position. Also, insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider owned 228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$23,100.96. The trade was a 98.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605. 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.