Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) to Issue $0.59 Quarterly Dividend

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of 0.5876 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th.

Sun Life Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 11.9% per year over the last three years. Sun Life Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 41.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Sun Life Financial to earn $5.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.34 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.8%.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock traded down $3.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $55.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,181,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,046. Sun Life Financial has a one year low of $46.41 and a one year high of $62.85. The firm has a market cap of $34.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.10.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.44% and a net margin of 7.32%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SLF. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.