Sun Life lifts your dividend

Article Excerpt

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC. $67 is a buy. The insurer (Toronto symbol SLF; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 583.0 million; Market cap: $39.1 billion; Dividend yield: 4.8%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.sunlife.ca) will raise your quarterly dividend with the June 2024 payment by 3.8%, to $0.81 a share from $0.78. The annual rate of $3.24 yields 4.8%. The company’s revenue in the first quarter of 2024 declined to $6.88 billion from $11.98 billion a year earlier; that 2023 figure included $4.80 billion in investment portfolio gains. Sun Life finished the first quarter with $1.47 trillion in assets under management, 8% higher than a year earlier. Earnings fell 2.2%, to $875 million, or $1.50 a share, from $895 million, or $1.52. Earnings were lower due to the sale of Sun Life UK, combined with higher morbidity (death policy) claims. Overall, the company will probably earn $6.65 a share for all of 2024, and the stock trades at a moderate 10.1 times that estimate. Sun…