Insider Selling: Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Insider Sells 17,283 Shares of Stock

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) insider Helena Janina Pagano sold 17,283 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$101.32, for a total value of C$1,751,113.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$23,100.96. This represents a 98.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock traded down C$1.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting C$99.18. 1,771,779 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,011,661. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$93.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$88.68. The company has a market cap of C$54.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.73. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of C$77.38 and a twelve month high of C$101.94.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported C$1.89 earnings per share for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of C$8.73 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 6.9230769 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 67.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SLF shares. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$104.00 to C$102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. TD increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$103.00 to C$115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$102.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$101.60.

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.