Sun Life Financial (TSE:SLF) Shares Down 8.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) traded down 8.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday after CIBC lowered their price target on the stock from C$97.00 to C$95.00. The stock traded as low as C$76.70 and last traded at C$77.12. 927,602 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 1,613,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$84.63.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cormark lifted their price target on Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bankshares dropped their target price on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$95.00 to C$93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$78.00 to C$82.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sun Life Financial from C$82.00 to C$87.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$87.10.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 0.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of C$44.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.94. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of C$84.53 and a 200 day moving average of C$79.51.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.87%.

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.