Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$84.64.

SLF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$85.00 to C$96.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$96.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$87.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cormark lifted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 1.8 %

TSE SLF opened at C$82.69 on Tuesday. Sun Life Financial has a one year low of C$64.38 and a one year high of C$88.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.77, a current ratio of 65.29 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00. The firm has a market cap of C$47.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$84.76 and its 200-day moving average is C$76.87.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $0.84 dividend. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kevin Strain sold 85,943 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$84.71, for a total value of C$7,280,231.53. Also, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty purchased 5,800 shares of Sun Life Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$84.83 per share, for a total transaction of C$492,014.00. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.