Analysts Set Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) PT at C$84.64

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$84.64.

SLF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$81.00 to C$87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$87.00 in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Cormark boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:SLF opened at C$84.19 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is C$84.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$76.68. The company has a market cap of C$48.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. 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. Sun Life Financial has a one year low of C$64.38 and a one year high of C$88.54.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.36%.

Insider Transactions at Sun Life Financial

In related news, Director Kevin Strain sold 85,943 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 bought 5,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$84.83 per share, for a total transaction of C$492,014.00. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.