Dividend increase: Sun Life Financial

Article Excerpt

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC. $52 (Toronto symbol SLF; Conservative- Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 612.0 million; Market cap: $31.8 billion; Dividend yield: 3.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.sunlife.ca) originally began operating as The Sun Insurance Company of Montreal in 1865. It’s now Canada’s third-largest life insurance company by market cap, behind Manulife Financial (No. 1) and Great-West Lifeco (No.2). With the December 2017 payment, Sun Life raised its quarterly dividend by 4.6%, to $0.455 a share from $0.435. The new annual rate of $1.82 yields 3.3%. The company has now increased its dividend six times since the start of 2015. It aims to pay out as dividends between 40% and 50% of its annual earnings before unusual items. Sun Life Financial is a buy. buy…