Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Stock Short Interest Drops 36.4%

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) saw a significant decrease in short interest in 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. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 684,978 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SLF. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $544,052,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $293,050,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Sun Life Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $292,980,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the second quarter valued at about $280,312,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial in the second quarter worth about $220,567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Evercore downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.67.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of SLF opened at $77.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $43.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.05. Sun Life Financial has a 1 year low of $57.22 and a 1 year high of $84.38.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $10.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $994.33 million. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 7.66%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th were issued a dividend of C$0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. 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.