Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$77.77 and traded as high as C$85.04. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at C$84.67, with a volume of 1,072,796 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SLF. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$96.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$87.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cormark boosted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$90.00 to C$94.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$86.64.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is C$85.22 and its 200 day moving average price is C$78.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.77, a quick ratio of 84,866.00 and a current ratio of 65.29. The stock has a market cap of C$48.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported C$1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.71 by C$0.05. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 9.90% and a return on equity of 13.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 61.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sun Life Financial

In other news, Director Kevin Strain sold 85,943 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$84.71, for a total transaction of C$7,280,231.53. Also, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty bought 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$84.83 per share, for a total transaction of C$492,014.00. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.