Short Interest in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Rises By 69.3%

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,370,000 shares, a growth of 69.3% from the March 31st total of 1,990,000 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 636,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Addenda Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 21.1% during the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,299,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Life Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,138,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 7.2% in 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 during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 2,316,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,558,000 after buying an additional 258,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SLF traded up $0.35 on Friday, hitting $51.67. The stock had a trading volume of 419,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,299. The stock has a market cap of $30.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. Sun Life Financial has a 1 year low of $44.57 and a 1 year high of $55.46. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $53.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.36.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.581 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.79%.

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.