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

Key Points

• Short interest surged 84.8% to 5.10 million shares as of July 31, representing 0.9% of Sun Life’s shares outstanding and 8.8 days to cover.
• Sun Life reported quarterly EPS of $1.46, beating estimates by $0.07, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.96, implying a 4.7% annual yield.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $96.33 price target; institutional investors own 52.26% of the company.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,095,872 shares, a growth of 84.8% from the July 15th total of 2,757,571 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 581,283 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.8 days.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.5%

SLF traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $81.33. The company had a trading volume of 409,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 714,637. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.66. Sun Life Financial has a 1 year low of $57.22 and a 1 year high of $84.38. The company has a market cap of $45.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.88.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 7.66%.The company had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.33 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sun Life Financial will post 5.72 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is 66.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SLF. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Sun Life Financial from $98.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. National Bank Financial upgraded Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sun Life Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sun Life Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SLF. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,884,084 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,615,788,000 after buying an additional 534,772 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Sun Life Financial during the second quarter valued at about $544,052,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $398,037,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,529,609 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $353,181,000 after acquiring an additional 347,041 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 86.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,952,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $246,645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834,772 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company's stock.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

Sun Life Financial Inc, founded in 1865 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is an international financial services organization that provides a range of insurance, wealth management and asset management solutions. The company serves individual and institutional clients, offering products designed to protect against life and health risks, help clients save for retirement, and manage investments on behalf of customers and third parties.

Core business activities include life and health insurance, group benefits for employers, retirement and pension products, and wealth management services such as mutual funds and segregated fund solutions.

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