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

Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $65.00.

SUN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Sunoco in a report on Monday, November 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 target price on shares of Sunoco and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd.

Sunoco Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of SUN stock opened at $52.85 on Monday. Sunoco has a 12-month low of $47.98 and a 12-month high of $59.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.41 and a 200-day moving average of $52.53. The company has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 0.49.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.54 by ($0.90). The company had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. Sunoco had a net margin of 2.61% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sunoco will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 30th were given a $0.9202 dividend. This is an increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 30th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $312,000. Fractal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Sunoco by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 616,542 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,040,000 after purchasing an additional 63,774 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sunoco during the first quarter worth $1,820,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 4.7% in the second quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 144,429 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,740,000 after purchasing an additional 6,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the first quarter valued at about $1,129,000. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.