Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) Short Interest Down 67.2% in March

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) saw a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,133,106 shares, a decline of 67.2% from the February 26th total of 18,698,827 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,875,258 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SU. Wall Street Zen downgraded Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Suncor Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $46.15 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Suncor Energy from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Suncor Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Suncor Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $8,997,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Suncor Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 217,454 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,646,000 after acquiring an additional 3,442 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Suncor Energy by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 28,830 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Suncor Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $257,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Suncor Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.37% of the company’s stock.

Suncor Energy Price Performance

Suncor Energy stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $64.94. The company had a trading volume of 4,579,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,255,467. Suncor Energy has a 1 year low of $30.79 and a 1 year high of $65.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $77.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.43.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.79 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.99%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Suncor Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Suncor Energy’s payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

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.