Short Interest in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Decreases By 50.7%

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,990,000 shares, a drop of 50.7% from the March 15th total of 4,040,000 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 615,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Addenda Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 148,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,710,000 after purchasing an additional 25,886 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $2,299,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Sun Life Financial by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barometer Capital Management Inc. now owns 151,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,410,000 after buying an additional 10,200 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,897,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $141,381,000 after acquiring an additional 41,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 678,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,214,000 after acquiring an additional 11,271 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sun Life Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

Sun Life Financial stock traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $51.67. 2,335,384 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 630,884. Sun Life Financial has a 1-year low of $44.57 and a 1-year high of $55.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.76 and a 200 day moving average of $51.13. The company has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.73 billion during the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.79% and a return on equity of 17.30%. Research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.581 dividend. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is presently 59.79%.

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.