Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Short Interest Update

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,630,000 shares, a decline of 65.1% from the June 15th total of 7,540,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 862,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 7,959.7% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 45,648,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,367,326,000 after acquiring an additional 45,082,012 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,241,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,268,543,000 after buying an additional 359,028 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.8% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,107,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $879,751,000 after buying an additional 442,197 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,725,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $504,371,000 after buying an additional 673,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,170,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $372,463,000 after buying an additional 464,126 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SLF traded up $0.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $50.05. 366,155 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 736,569. The company has a market cap of $29.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.92 and a 200 day moving average of $51.65. Sun Life Financial has a 52-week low of $44.57 and a 52-week high of $55.46.

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

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a $0.588 dividend. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 29th. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.10%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

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.