Definity Financial (TSE:DFY) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Definity Financial Co. (TSE:DFY) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from C$51.00 to C$53.00. The company traded as high as C$50.77 and last traded at C$50.55, with a volume of 44328 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$49.84.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on DFY. CIBC lowered Definity Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$47.00 to C$51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Desjardins lifted their target price on Definity Financial from C$47.00 to C$52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Definity Financial from C$52.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday. National Bankshares lifted their target price on Definity Financial from C$60.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered Definity Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$53.10.

Definity Financial Trading Up 4.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of C$6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a current ratio of 7.68, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$48.84 and a 200 day moving average price of C$45.98.

Definity Financial (TSE:DFY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.66 by C$0.28. Definity Financial had a return on equity of 13.00% and a net margin of 9.60%. The company had revenue of C$1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$1.07 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Definity Financial Co. will post 3.1395647 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Definity Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Definity Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.34%.

About Definity Financial

Definity Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, offers property and casualty insurance products in Canada. It provides personal insurance products, including auto, property, general and umbrella liability, and pet insurance products to individuals under the Economical, Sonnet, Family, Petsecure, and Peppermint brands; and commercial insurance products, which include fleet, commercial auto, property, liability, and specialty insurance products to businesses under the Definity Insurance and Economical brand name.