Short Interest in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) Drops By 54.7%

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,620,000 shares, a drop of 54.7% from the August 31st total of 7,990,000 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 685,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Based on an average daily volume of 685,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sun Life Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 3.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,422,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,691,568,000 after purchasing an additional 827,119 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,100,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $921,330,000 after purchasing an additional 374,682 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 10,338,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $591,968,000 after buying an additional 846,735 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 6,748,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $385,740,000 after buying an additional 335,054 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 6.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,157,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $409,576,000 after buying an additional 377,204 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays downgraded Sun Life Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Sun Life Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.00.

Sun Life Financial Price Performance

Shares of Sun Life Financial stock opened at $60.30 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.45. Sun Life Financial has a 1 year low of $52.44 and a 1 year high of $66.81. The company has a market capitalization of $33.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.90.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.29. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 17.21%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.