Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, a drop of 17.6% from the February 13th total of 2,390,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 503,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sunoco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.67.

Sunoco Trading Down 0.2 %

Sunoco stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $58.56. 186,487 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,196. Sunoco has a fifty-two week low of $49.45 and a fifty-two week high of $62.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.73). Sunoco had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 22.52%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sunoco will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.8865 dividend. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Sunoco’s payout ratio is presently 53.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Sunoco by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $102,000. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sunoco by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 888,862 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,723,000 after acquiring an additional 24,686 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Sunoco by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,608,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $134,192,000 after buying an additional 128,042 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Sunoco by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 11,097 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 4,109 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.