Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Analysts at Barclays

Barclays started coverage on shares of Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Argus upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of SLF opened at $54.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $31.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.49. Sun Life Financial has a 12-month low of $44.57 and a 12-month high of $55.65.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.72 billion. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 17.47%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial will post 4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be given a $0.587 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 25,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after buying an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,029,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 33,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 47,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,350,000 after buying an additional 12,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,703,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $721,042,000 after buying an additional 407,913 shares during the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.