Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, May 18, 2018

Article Excerpt

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC., $55.83, Toronto symbol SLF, provides several financial services, including life insurance, individual wealth management and institutional asset management. Its clients are spread across North America and Asia. With the June 2018 payment, the company will increase its quarterly dividend by 4.4%, to $0.475 a share from $0.455. The new annual rate of $1.90 yields 3.4%. In the three months ended March 31, 2018, Sun Life earned $770 million. That’s up 34.4% from $573 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 35.5%, to $1.26 from $0.93, on fewer shares outstanding. A 5.9% gain at the company’s wealth management business offset a 13.9% decline in insurance sales. As of March 31, 2018, the company’s assets under management were up 5.6%, to $978.9 billion from the $927.3 billion a year earlier. The increase came mainly from favourable foreign exchange rates, which offset unfavourable market movements. Including its latest increase, the company’s annual dividend rate has grown at an average of 5.7% annually for…