Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$110.37 and last traded at C$110.02, with a volume of 489639 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$108.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on SLF shares. National Bank Financial decreased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$109.00 to C$108.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD raised 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 report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$101.60.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$99.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$91.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.48, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 6.03. The stock has a market cap of C$61.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.84.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 12.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The business had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. Analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Melissa Jane Kennedy sold 7,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,412,334.84. This represents a 34.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Kevin Strain sold 104,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$96.99, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 71.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 380,998 shares of company stock valued at $38,271,605. Corporate 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.