Scotiabank Issues Positive Forecast for Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Stock Price

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) had its price target hoisted by Scotiabank from C$73.00 to C$85.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Scotiabank currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

SLF has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. National Bankshares upped their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$72.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore reduced their target price on Sun Life Financial from C$76.00 to C$75.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$81.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$73.00 to C$72.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$78.82.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

SLF opened at C$77.63 on Wednesday. Sun Life Financial has a 1 year low of C$64.36 and a 1 year high of C$79.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$76.68 and a 200 day moving average price of C$71.45. 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 company has a market cap of C$44.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The financial services provider reported C$1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.58 by C$0.13. The company had revenue of C$8.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$9.18 billion. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 9.90%. Sell-side analysts expect that Sun Life Financial will post 6.9230769 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is 61.36%.

Insider Activity at Sun Life Financial

In related news, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 15,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$71.40, for a total transaction of C$1,142,323.80. In other news, Senior Officer Linda Dougherty sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$75.30, for a total value of C$150,590.00. Also, Senior Officer Daniel Fishbein sold 15,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$71.40, for a total transaction of C$1,142,323.80. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.