Short Interest in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Decreases By 59.1%

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) was the target of a large drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,313,664 shares, a drop of 59.1% from the May 31st total of 5,662,030 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 559,386 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SLF shares. Argus set a $81.00 target price on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,788,000 after buying an additional 534,772 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,869,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,244,000 after acquiring an additional 878,031 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth $398,037,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,529,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,181,000 after acquiring an additional 347,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Sun Life Financial by 86.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,952,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $246,645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834,772 shares during the period. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SLF traded up $0.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $78.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 340,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 694,751. The firm has a market cap of $43.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.20 and a 200-day moving average of $67.00. Sun Life Financial has a 12 month low of $56.22 and a 12 month high of $78.98.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $925.99 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 7.85%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial will post 5.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 72.68%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is an international financial services organization that provides a range of insurance, wealth management and asset management solutions. The company serves individual and institutional clients, offering products designed to protect against life and health risks, help clients save for retirement, and manage investments on behalf of customers and third parties.

Core business activities include life and health insurance, group benefits for employers, retirement and pension products, and wealth management services such as mutual funds and segregated fund solutions.