Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Price Target Raised to $63.00

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) had its price target upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.25.

Sunoco Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE SUN opened at $52.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Sunoco has a 12 month low of $49.00 and a 12 month high of $64.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.19.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $2.62. Sunoco had a return on equity of 41.76% and a net margin of 3.80%. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Sunoco will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.8756 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.72%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 26,345.6% in the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 1,351,368 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $76,406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,258 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Sunoco by 176.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 700,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,591,000 after buying an additional 447,072 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its stake in Sunoco by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 583,323 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,981,000 after buying an additional 146,152 shares during the period. Adams Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sunoco by 82.3% during the 2nd quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 571,538 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,315,000 after buying an additional 258,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 276,829 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $15,652,000 after acquiring an additional 83,008 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Sunoco

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.