Sun Life rewards investors

Article Excerpt

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC. $65 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol SLF; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 587.0 million; Market cap: $38.2 billion; Dividend yield: 4.6%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.sunlife.ca), is Canada’s third-largest insurer by market cap after Manulife (No. 1) and Great-West Lifeco (No. 2). Sun Life last raised its quarterly dividend with the June 2023 payment. Investors now receive $0.75 a share, up 4.2% from $0.72. The annual rate of $3.00 yields 4.6%. The company’s revenue in the second quarter of 2023 improved to $7.67 billion from a negative $2.97 billion a year earlier; that 2022 figure included $9.15 billion in investment portfolio losses. Earnings rose 13.9%, to $920 million, or $1.57 a share, from $808 million, or $1.38. Sun Life will probably earn $6.34 a share for all of 2023, and the stock trades at a moderate 10.3 times that estimate. Sun Life Financial is a buy. buy…