Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.00.

Several research firms have issued reports on SUN. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sunoco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Sunoco to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Sunoco from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sunoco from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Sunoco from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SUN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $532,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 5,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Fruth Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the second quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Quad Cities Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 7.3% in the second quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Stock Performance

NYSE SUN opened at $71.95 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.43 and its 200-day moving average is $66.05. Sunoco has a 12-month low of $47.98 and a 12-month high of $78.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92 and a beta of 0.41.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($1.56). Sunoco had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 2.88%.The business had revenue of $14.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 164.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Sunoco will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $1.0023 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $4.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Sunoco’s payout ratio is currently 88.72%.

Sunoco Company Profile

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.