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

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$18.55 and last traded at C$81.10, with a volume of 2307754 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$81.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$95.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Desjardins raised their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. UBS Group upgraded Sun Life Financial to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. TD Securities lowered their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$101.00 to C$99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Cibc Captl Mkts cut Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$91.44.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.9%

The business has a 50 day moving average of C$84.05 and a 200-day moving average of C$84.35. The stock has a market cap of C$45.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 92.19, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported C$1.86 earnings per share for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 7.58%.The company had revenue of C$9.07 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.15%.

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.