Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Down 36.4% in September

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,935,950 shares, a decrease of 36.4% from the August 31st total of 6,188,802 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 684,978 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.7 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $81,587,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at $2,888,000. Korea Investment CORP bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the second quarter valued at $35,531,000. Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial during the second quarter worth $1,637,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial during the second quarter worth $78,481,000. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus increased their price target on shares of Sun Life Financial from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Sun Life Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Evercore lowered Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.67.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at $78.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $80.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.18. Sun Life Financial has a 52-week low of $57.22 and a 52-week high of $84.38.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 17.96%. The company had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $994.33 million. Analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th were given a C$0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 26th. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 64.02%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

Sun Life Financial Inc is a Canadian financial services company that provides insurance, wealth, and asset management products to individuals, businesses, and institutions. The company serves clients through operations in Canada, the United States, and several markets in Asia.

Its insurance offerings include life, health, dental, disability, long-term care, and critical illness coverage, as well as annuities and employee benefits. Sun Life also provides retirement savings and investment products, including mutual funds and other wealth solutions for individuals and workplace plan members.

Through its asset management businesses, Sun Life manages investments for institutional and retail clients across a range of asset classes.