Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Insider Sells C$1,139,836.60 in Stock

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) insider Jacques Jr. Goulet sold 11,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$97.09, for a total value of C$1,139,836.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$102,332.86. This represents a 91.76% decrease in their position.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of SLF stock traded up C$0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching C$97.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 935,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,395. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$91.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$87.70. The company has a market capitalization of C$53.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of C$77.38 and a fifty-two week high of C$101.15.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 9.12%. Sell-side analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial dropped their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$101.60.

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.