Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $65.44 and last traded at $65.57, with a volume of 37621 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $65.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Barclays set a $63.00 target price on shares of Sunoco in a report on Friday, February 20th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Sunoco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sunoco from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Sunoco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.83.

Sunoco Stock Up 0.8%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The company has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.87 and a beta of 0.49.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($1.55). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $0.9317 dividend. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is 164.32%.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SUN. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sunoco by 496.5% in the 4th quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 853 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Sunoco during the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Sunoco by 110.3% during 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 and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

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.