Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.81 Per Share

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 9th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be given a dividend of 0.81 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Sun Life Financial stock traded up C$0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching C$73.43. 944,654 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,808,745. The company’s fifty day moving average is C$72.31 and its 200-day moving average is C$69.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 78.47, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 6.81. Sun Life Financial has a 52 week low of C$61.84 and a 52 week high of C$74.94. The firm has a market cap of C$42.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported C$1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.59 by C$0.09. The business had revenue of C$18.68 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 13.98%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9056785 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$74.45, for a total value of C$1,191,120.00. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLF has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$70.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. National Bankshares lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$72.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$77.18.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.