Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.00.

A number of research firms have issued reports on SU. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Suncor Energy from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $46.15 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Suncor Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Suncor Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,720,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,473,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,405 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 33,868,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,417,029,000 after purchasing an additional 145,800 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in Suncor Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 27,471,954 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,148,602,000 after purchasing an additional 70,300 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in Suncor Energy by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 21,050,387 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $934,312,000 after buying an additional 2,592,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 3.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,911,602 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $779,788,000 after buying an additional 641,354 shares during the last quarter. 67.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Price Performance

NYSE SU opened at $56.50 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Suncor Energy has a 1-year low of $30.79 and a 1-year high of $57.13.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $8.77 billion during 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 posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

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.