Brokerages Set Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) Price Target at C$88.11

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$88.11.

Several research firms have commented on SLF. National Bankshares cut Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from C$93.00 to C$87.00 in a research note on Friday, August 8th. TD Securities upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from C$89.00 to C$101.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Sun Life Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Desjardins cut their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$84.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Thomas Murphy acquired 3,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$79.37 per share, for a total transaction of C$268,973.75. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$268,973.75. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 4,262 shares of company stock worth $338,105. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 1.1%

TSE SLF opened at C$86.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$48.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$81.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$83.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 92.19. Sun Life Financial has a 52 week low of C$74.56 and a 52 week high of C$91.11.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.75%.

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.