Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) Short Interest Up 12.8% in April

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 8,236,193 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the March 31st total of 7,301,394 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,377,857 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Suncor Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 54.9% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 635 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 64.1% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in Suncor Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 95.8% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 793 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Suncor Energy in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 67.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SU shares. Zacks Research upgraded Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $46.15 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Suncor Energy from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Suncor Energy from $75.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets upgraded Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Suncor Energy Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE SU traded down $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.58. The stock had a trading volume of 3,579,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,438,129. Suncor Energy has a fifty-two week low of $33.50 and a fifty-two week high of $68.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.43. The company has a market cap of $80.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48 and a beta of 0.32.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.99%.The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Suncor Energy will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Suncor Energy’s payout ratio is presently 50.43%.

Suncor Energy Company Profile

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.