Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Receives $86.50 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $84.6667.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, May 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLF. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $244,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 113.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 4,270 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,000. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $232,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 66.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SLF opened at $76.53 on Wednesday. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of $56.22 and a fifty-two week high of $76.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.59. The company has a market capitalization of $42.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 0.89.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $925.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 5.76 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 72.94%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is an international financial services organization that provides a range of insurance, wealth management and asset management solutions. The company serves individual and institutional clients, offering products designed to protect against life and health risks, help clients save for retirement, and manage investments on behalf of customers and third parties.

Core business activities include life and health insurance, group benefits for employers, retirement and pension products, and wealth management services such as mutual funds and segregated fund solutions.