Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$18.70 and last traded at C$86.00, with a volume of 1125070 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$85.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SLF shares. National Bankshares lowered their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$94.00 to C$93.00 in a report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group raised Sun Life Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Cibc Captl Mkts lowered Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$95.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Desjardins set a C$94.00 price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$91.44.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.2%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is C$83.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$83.93. The firm has a market capitalization of C$47.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 84,866.00, a current ratio of 92.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported C$1.86 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$9.07 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 15.69%. Equities analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 65.15%.

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.