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

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$20.40 and last traded at C$116.62, with a volume of 329101 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$115.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SLF. National Bank Financial raised their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$108.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Evercore lowered Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$111.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Desjardins set a C$101.00 target price on Sun Life Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$98.00 to C$111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$109.36.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of C$64.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.51, a current ratio of 6.03 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$109.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$97.29.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 9.12%.The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Manjit Singh sold 188,312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$103.20, for a total transaction of C$19,433,798.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$56,450.40. This trade represents a 99.71% decrease in their position. Also, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$101.49, for a total value of C$747,575.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,412,334.84. The trade was a 34.61% decrease in their position. Insiders sold a total of 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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. Sun Life generates about a third of its profit from asset-management operations.