Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 26th

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid 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 dividend 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% per year 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLF opened at $54.61 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.50. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of $46.41 and a fifty-two week high of $62.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cormark raised Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About Sun Life Financial

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.