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. 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 payment 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. Equities research 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLF traded down $3.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $55.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,181,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,046. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.03. Sun Life Financial has a 52 week low of $46.41 and a 52 week high of $62.85. The business’s 50-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 data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.44% and a net margin of 7.32%. Analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SLF shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial currently 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.