Asia buoys Sun Life

Article Excerpt

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $47.64 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 613.6 million; Market cap: $29.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.5%; www.sunlife.ca) sells life insurance, savings, retirement and pension products. The company has $903.3 billion in assets under management; it mainly operates in Canada, the U.S., Asia and the U.K. In the quarter ended December 31, 2016, the company’s earnings per share fell 13.3%, to $0.91 from $1.05 a year earlier. That 2015 quarter was strong in Canada, with high investment gains and unusually low policy claims. Sun Life continues to expand in Asia, where earnings rose 19% in the latest quarter. Demand for insurance is growing fast there as the middle class expands. The stock trades at just 11.7 times the company’s forecast 2017 earnings of $4.07 a share. Sun Life raised its quarterly dividend by 3.8% with the December 2016 payment, to $0.42 from $0.405. The stock yields a high 3.5%. Sun Life is a buy. buy…