Definity Financial (TSE:DFY) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Definity Financial Co. (TSE:DFY - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$60.50 and last traded at C$60.37, with a volume of 32539 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$58.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DFY shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Definity Financial from C$53.00 to C$57.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank cut shares of Definity Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James cut shares of Definity Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from C$53.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Definity Financial from C$58.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Cormark cut shares of Definity Financial from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Definity Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$54.70.

Definity Financial Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 7.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$55.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$50.08. The company has a market cap of C$6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.04.

Definity Financial (TSE:DFY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported C$0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of C($0.04) by C$0.17. Definity Financial had a return on equity of 13.00% and a net margin of 9.60%. The company had revenue of C$1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of C$1.10 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Definity Financial Co. will post 3.1263962 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Definity Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Definity Financial's payout ratio is currently 19.34%.

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.