Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC decreased its position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,986 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 248 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SUN. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 31,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after buying an additional 6,338 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Sunoco by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 22,129 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Sunoco by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 71,705 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,510,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of Sunoco by 138.3% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 172,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,434,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $368,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of SUN opened at $55.86 on Friday. Sunoco LP has a 1 year low of $41.95 and a 1 year high of $64.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $58.48 and a 200-day moving average of $57.49. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 1.29.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported ($1.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($2.46). Sunoco had a return on equity of 37.91% and a net margin of 1.71%. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Sunoco’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sunoco LP will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.876 dividend. This is an increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Sunoco’s payout ratio is presently 96.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SUN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sunoco from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Sunoco from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sunoco from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sunoco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.71.

Insider Activity at Sunoco

In other Sunoco news, Director David K. Skidmore purchased 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.10 per share, for a total transaction of $78,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $761,076.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Sunoco 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.