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

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$84.35 and traded as high as C$90.88. Sun Life Financial shares last traded at C$90.84, with a volume of 3,112,486 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on SLF shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$84.00 to C$83.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on Sun Life Financial from C$93.00 to C$95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$97.00 to C$103.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Desjardins upped their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$96.00 to C$101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$96.44.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 1.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of C$50.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$87.25 and a 200 day moving average price of C$84.35.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported C$1.96 EPS for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 7.58%. On average, research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.24%.

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.