Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.59

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th.

Sun Life Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.9% annually over the last three years. Sun Life Financial has a payout ratio of 41.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sun Life Financial to earn $5.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.37 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.8%.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $54.61 on Monday. Sun Life Financial has a 1-year low of $46.41 and a 1-year high of $62.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.50.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 16.86%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SLF shares. StockNews.com downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial presently has an average 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.