Short Interest in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Drops By 66.8%

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,440,000 shares, a decline of 66.8% from the February 28th total of 16,380,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 692,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SLF. Cormark raised Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Trading of Sun Life Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,233,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,438,888,000 after acquiring an additional 197,887 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,454,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $562,121,000 after acquiring an additional 198,205 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,192,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $427,712,000 after acquiring an additional 703,391 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial in the 4th quarter worth $382,176,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,837,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284,556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.64. 297,288 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 686,322. 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 market cap of $32.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.94.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 16.86%. On average, research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. Sun Life Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 60.16%.

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.