Here's Why Sun Life (SLF) is a Strong Value Stock

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market and investing with confidence are common goals. Zacks
Premium provides lots of different ways to do both.

The popular research service can help you become a smarter, more
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It also includes access to the Zacks Style Scores.

What are the Zacks Style Scores?

Developed alongside the Zacks Rank, the Zacks Style Scores are a
group of complementary indicators that help investors pick stocks
with the best chances of beating the market over the next 30
days.

Each stock is given an alphabetic rating of A, B, C, D or F
based on their value, growth, and momentum qualities. With this
system, an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on,
meaning the better the score, the better chance the stock will
outperform.

The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:

Value Score

Value investors love finding good stocks at good prices,
especially before the broader market catches on to a stock's true
value. Utilizing ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash
Flow, and many other multiples, the Value Style Score identifies
the most attractive and most discounted stocks.

Growth Score

Growth investors, on the other hand, are more concerned with a
company's financial strength and health, and its future outlook.
The Growth Style Score examines things like projected and historic
earnings, sales, and cash flow to find stocks that will experience
sustainable growth over time.

Momentum Score

Momentum traders and investors live by the saying "the trend is
your friend." This investing style is all about taking advantage of
upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook.
Employing factors like one-week price change and the monthly
percentage change in earnings estimates, the Momentum Style Score
can indicate favorable times to build a position in high-momentum
stocks.

VGM Score

If you like to use all three kinds of investing, then the VGM
Score is for you. It's a combination of all Style Scores, and is an
important indicator to use with the Zacks Rank. The VGM Score rates
each stock on their shared weighted styles, narrowing down the
companies with the most attractive value, best growth forecast, and
most promising momentum.

How Style Scores Work with the Zacks Rank

A proprietary stock-rating model, the Zacks Rank utilizes the
power of earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's
earnings outlook, to help investors create a successful
portfolio.

Investors can count on the Zacks Rank's success, with #1 (Strong
Buy) stocks producing an unmatched +25.41% average annual return
since 1988, more than double the S&P 500's performance. But the
model rates a large number of stocks, and there are over 200
companies with a Strong Buy rank, plus another 600 with a #2 (Buy)
rank, on any given day.

This totals more than 800 top-rated stocks, and it can be
overwhelming to try and pick the best stocks for you and your
portfolio.

That's where the Style Scores come in.

To maximize your returns, you want to buy stocks with the
highest probability of success. This means picking stocks with a
Zacks Rank #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B. If you
find yourself looking at stocks with a #3 (Hold) rank, make sure
they have Scores of A or B as well to ensure as much upside
potential as possible.

The direction of a stock's earnings estimate revisions should
always be a key factor when choosing which stocks to buy, since the
Scores were created to work together with the Zacks Rank.

For instance, a stock with a #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell)
rating, even one that boasts Scores of A and B, still has a
downward-trending earnings forecast, and a much greater likelihood
its share price will decline as well.

Thus, the more stocks you own with a #1 or #2 Rank and Scores of
A or B, the better.

Stock to Watch: Sun Life (SLF)

Founded in 1865 and based in Toronto, Canada, Sun Life is the
third largest insurer in Canada. The company is well diversified by
geography and product, providing protection and wealth management
products and services to individual and group customers worldwide,
including in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland,
Hong Kong , the Philippines , Japan , Indonesia , India , China ,
Australia , Singapore , Vietnam , Malaysia and Bermuda.

SLF is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, with a VGM Score of A.

It also boasts a Value Style Score of A thanks to attractive
valuation metrics like a forward P/E ratio of 10.58; value
investors should take notice.

Three analysts revised their earnings estimate higher in the
last 60 days for fiscal 2024, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate
has increased $0.06 to $5.09 per share. SLF also boasts an average
earnings surprise of 3.3%.

With a solid Zacks Rank and top-tier Value and VGM Style Scores,
SLF should be on investors' short list.

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Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF): Free Stock Analysis Report

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