Asia lifts the dividends of Canadian insurers

Article Excerpt

Manulife and Sun Life are two of Canada’s top life insurance companies. Both continue to perform well in this country, but Asia offers them the best growth prospects. That market continues to expand as the region’s middle class gets bigger and looks to save and invest. MANULIFE FINANCIAL $25 (Toronto symbol MFC; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $50.0 billion; Dividend yield: 3.3%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.manulife.ca) sells life and other related forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 11.1%, with the March 2017 payment. Investors now receive $0.205 a share for an annual yield of 3.3%. In the three months ended December 31, 2016, Manulife earned $0.63 per share, excluding one-time items. That’s a gain of 50.0% over the $0.42 a year earlier. The rise was due to the company’s strong performance in Asia. Asian middle class is growing Manulife continues to expand…