Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Insider Linda Dougherty Acquires 6,740 Shares

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) insider Linda Dougherty acquired 6,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$97.97 per share, with a total value of C$660,317.80. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 13,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,320,635.60. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock.

Linda Dougherty also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 13th, Linda Dougherty sold 5,000 shares of Sun Life Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$97.01, for a total value of C$485,050.00.
• On Wednesday, May 13th, Linda Dougherty sold 5,118 shares of Sun Life Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$96.49, for a total value of C$493,835.82.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of SLF traded up C$0.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting C$98.64. The stock had a trading volume of 479,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,985,240. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of C$77.38 and a 12 month high of C$101.15. The firm has a market capitalization of C$54.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$91.38 and a 200 day moving average price of C$87.78.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 EPS for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. TD lifted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$83.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut 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 report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$101.60.

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