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

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,440,000 shares, a growth of 47.0% from the January 15th total of 1,660,000 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 642,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Sun Life Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Sun Life Financial by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691 shares during the period. Guardian Capital LP lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 320,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,004,000 after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 493,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,286,000 after acquiring an additional 200,567 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,454,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $562,121,000 after acquiring an additional 198,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 6,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SLF shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SLF stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.17. 858,344 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 554,788. The firm has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.03. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of $46.41 and a fifty-two week high of $62.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.18.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 17.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sun Life Financial will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.5876 dividend. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is currently 57.46%.

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.