Definity Financial (TSE:DFY) Trading Up 2.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Definity Financial Co. (TSE:DFY)’s stock price traded up 2.5% during trading on Friday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from C$58.00 to C$61.00. The company traded as high as C$48.54 and last traded at C$48.31. 26,450 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 97,636 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$47.12.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on DFY. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Definity Financial from C$44.00 to C$43.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th. National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of Definity Financial from C$59.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Definity Financial from C$51.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Desjardins increased their target price on Definity Financial from C$45.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Definity Financial from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$51.35.

Definity Financial Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20, a current ratio of 5.47 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of C$5.69 billion and a PE ratio of 16.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$44.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$43.72.

Definity Financial (TSE:DFY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported C$0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.72 by C($0.07). The company had revenue of C$991.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$1 billion. Definity Financial had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 8.94%. Sell-side analysts expect that Definity Financial Co. will post 2.6896762 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Definity Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. Definity Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.12%.

About Definity Financial

Definity Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, offers property and casualty insurance products in Canada. It provides personal insurance products, including auto, property, general and umbrella liability, and pet insurance products to individuals under the Economical, Sonnet, Family, Petsecure, and Peppermint brands; and commercial insurance products, which include fleet, commercial auto, property, liability, and specialty insurance products to businesses under the Definity Insurance and Economical brand name.