Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Trading Down 8.9% – Should You Sell?

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s stock price dropped 8.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as C$76.70 and last traded at C$77.12. Approximately 927,602 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 1,613,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$84.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Securities increased their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$81.00 to C$87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$87.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$85.00 to C$96.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$87.70.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$84.72 and its 200-day moving average price is C$79.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.77, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 65.29. The company has a market capitalization of C$44.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 61.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kevin Strain sold 85,943 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$84.71, for a total transaction of C$7,280,231.53. Also, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty acquired 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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.