SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) Stock Rating Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded SunCoke Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, SunCoke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.00.

SunCoke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SXC stock opened at $9.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $844.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.55 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.71 and its 200 day moving average is $8.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. SunCoke Energy has a 52-week low of $5.51 and a 52-week high of $10.68.

SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The energy company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $475.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.20 million. SunCoke Energy had a negative net margin of 2.88% and a positive return on equity of 6.37%. SunCoke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SunCoke Energy will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SunCoke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. SunCoke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -75.00%.

Institutional Trading of SunCoke Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of SunCoke Energy by 126.3% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,259 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in SunCoke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in SunCoke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in SunCoke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in SunCoke Energy by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,405 shares during the last quarter. 90.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SunCoke Energy Company Profile

SunCoke Energy, Inc is an independent producer of metallurgical coke, a carbon-based fuel and reducing agent used in blast-furnace steelmaking. The company operates cokemaking facilities in the United States and supplies coke primarily to integrated steel producers under long-term commercial arrangements.

SunCoke’s operations use coal as a raw material and employ heat-recovery technology that captures energy generated during the cokemaking process to produce electricity. In addition to coke production, the company provides coal-handling, storage, transloading and terminal services through its logistics operations, supporting the movement of coal and other bulk materials for industrial customers.

SunCoke Energy was formed from the cokemaking operations of Sunoco and became an independent, publicly traded company in 2012.