Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company 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 issued reports on SLF shares. Barclays increased their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$84.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group raised shares of Sun Life Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$91.44.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.00, a current ratio of 92.19 and a quick ratio of 84,866.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$83.78 and its 200 day moving average price is C$83.96. The company has a market cap of C$47.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.74.

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. The business had revenue of C$9.07 billion for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 15.69%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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. Sun Life generates about a third of its profit from asset-management operations.