Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of 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 trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SLF. Desjardins set a C$101.00 target price on shares of Sun Life Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$100.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$92.10. 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 capitalization of C$61.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.84.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last released its 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 company had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 67.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sun Life Financial news, Director Kevin Strain sold 104,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$96.99, for a total value of C$10,159,120.56. Following the sale, the director owned 42,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$4,073,580. This represents a 71.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$23,100.96. This represents a 98.70% decrease in their position. Insiders sold 380,998 shares of company stock worth $38,271,605 over the last 90 days. 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.