Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,540,000 shares, a decrease of 36.8% from the May 31st total of 11,930,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 865,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 4,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Burney Co. raised its position in Sun Life Financial by 0.3% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 89,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,871,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Claret Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 8,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

SLF traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $48.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 416,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 755,367. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of $44.57 and a fifty-two week high of $55.46.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.94% and a return on equity of 16.97%. Research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be paid a $0.588 dividend. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 29th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.