Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.43.

A number of research firms have commented on SUN. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SUN. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sunoco by 5.8% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,447 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Sunoco by 39.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,901 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after buying an additional 8,764 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sunoco in the second quarter valued at $4,888,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sunoco by 10.1% in the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 63,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,403,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Sunoco by 7.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 128,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,880,000 after buying an additional 8,494 shares in the last quarter. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Sunoco stock opened at $56.39 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 1.36. Sunoco has a fifty-two week low of $49.45 and a fifty-two week high of $64.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $53.58 and a 200 day moving average of $53.33.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($1.79). Sunoco had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.72%. The firm had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Sunoco will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.8865 dividend. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.55 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.46%.

Sunoco Company Profile

Sunoco LP, together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails motor fuels in the United States. It operates through two segments: Fuel Distribution and Marketing, and All Other. The Fuel Distribution and Marketing segment purchases motor fuel, as well as other petroleum products, such as propane and lubricating oil from independent refiners and oil companies and supplies it to company-operated retail stores, independently operated commission agents, and retail stores, as well as other commercial customers, including unbranded retail stores, other fuel distributors, school districts, municipalities, and other industrial customers.