Sun Life lifts your dividend

Article Excerpt

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC. $82 is a buy. The stock (Toronto symbol SLF; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 573.9 million; Market cap: $47.1 billion; Dividend yield: 4.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.sunlife.ca) lets investors tap Canada’s third-largest life insurance company by market cap after Manulife (No. 1) and Great-West Lifeco (No. 2). Sun Life has $1.52 trillion in assets under management and administration. With the December 2024 payment, the company raised your quarterly dividend by 3.7%. The new annual rate of $3.36 yields a high 4.1%. Sun Life’s revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024 improved to $8.35 billion from $7.81 billion a year earlier. The year-earlier figure included $11.16 billion in investment portfolio gains. Earnings fell 1.8%, to $965 million from $983 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings were flat year-over-year, at $1.68, on fewer shares outstanding. Sun Life Financial is a buy. buy…