CIBC Raise Target Reiterating his preference for Canadian life insurance companies over financials, CIBC’s Paul Holden increased his target for shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. to $80 from $77, keeping an “outperformer” rating. The average is $76.69.
“The lifecos have been relative underperformers over the last quarter.,” he said. “We think there is an opportunity to lighten up on the banks and add lifeco exposure. Our reasoning is premised on: lifecos being beneficiaries of higherfor-longer interest rates; less economic risk to earnings estimates; strong relative capital positions; better opportunities for organic growth in the current environment; and, reasonable valuation multiples. Further, we expect 13-per-cent year-over-year EPS growth, on average, for Q1, much higher than the EPS growth we are forecasting for the banks in a revenue-challenged environment.”