Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$18.40 and last traded at C$80.70, with a volume of 1730150 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$82.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on SLF shares. Argus upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Cibc Captl Mkts cut shares of Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. CIBC decreased their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$94.00 to C$93.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$91.44.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$84.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$84.61. 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. The stock has a market cap of C$44.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.83.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported C$1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$9.07 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 7.58%. Analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 26th. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.15%.

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.