Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Upgraded to Moderate Buy at Royal Bank Of Canada

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) was upgraded by Royal Bank Of Canada to a “moderate buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on SUN. Mizuho upped their price objective on Sunoco from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Sunoco from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Sunoco from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised Sunoco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Sunoco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $72.88.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SUN opened at $69.98 on Wednesday. Sunoco has a twelve month low of $47.98 and a twelve month high of $70.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.16. The company has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $1.14. Sunoco had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 3.07%.The firm had revenue of $10.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 106.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sunoco will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter worth $40,000. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 496.5% in the fourth quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 853 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the first quarter worth $78,000. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 110.3% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,569 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

About Sunoco

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company‐owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco’s product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on‐road diesel treated to meet ultra‐low sulfur requirements.