Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $46.11 and last traded at $46.1370, with a volume of 3638455 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Suncor Energy in a report on Friday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Suncor Energy from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.50.

Suncor Energy Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $9.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.82 billion. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 13.01%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Suncor Energy Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Suncor Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Suncor Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 56.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Suncor Energy by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 57,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after buying an additional 13,700 shares during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,485 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Suncor Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $609,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,037 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. 67.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company’s operations span the full oil and gas value chain, with principal activities in oil sands development and production, conventional exploration and production, refining, distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products. Suncor supplies crude, synthetic crude and refined fuels as well as related products and services to commercial and consumer markets.

Upstream, Suncor is a major developer and operator of oil sands projects in Alberta, using both mining and in situ technologies to produce bitumen and synthetic crude.