Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.30 EPS

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.30, Zacks reports. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.44% and a net margin of 7.32%.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SLF stock opened at $55.13 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.09. Sun Life Financial has a 12 month low of $46.41 and a 12 month high of $62.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.03.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.5876 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 57.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sun Life Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.