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

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, a decline of 54.0% from the December 15th total of 3,370,000 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 581,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SLF. Burney Co. raised its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 87,150 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,171,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Sun Life Financial by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 65,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,863,000 after acquiring an additional 2,507 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 108,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 1,352,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,261,000 after purchasing an additional 141,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,841,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $164,876,000 after purchasing an additional 34,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

SLF traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $57.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 367,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,109. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.03. Sun Life Financial has a fifty-two week low of $46.41 and a fifty-two week high of $62.85.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $0.621 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is 57.46%.

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.