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

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$103.14 and last traded at C$102.81, with a volume of 342457 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$101.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SLF. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$104.00 to C$102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 1.5%

The stock has a market cap of C$57.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$95.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$89.43.

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. The firm had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 12.98%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin Strain sold 104,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$96.99, for a total value of C$10,159,120.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 42,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$4,073,580. This trade represents a 71.38% decrease in their position. Also, insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$101.32, for a total transaction of C$1,751,113.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$23,100.96. This trade represents a 98.70% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold 192,686 shares of company stock worth $18,837,806 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.