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

Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned 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 $62.14.

A number of research analysts recently commented on SUN shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th.

Sunoco Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Sunoco stock opened at $53.31 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.26 and a 200-day moving average of $55.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 1.30. Sunoco has a 1-year low of $45.03 and a 1-year high of $64.89.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $2.62. Sunoco had a net margin of 3.80% and a return on equity of 41.76%. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sunoco will post 8.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.8756 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SUN. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco in the second quarter valued at about $4,888,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Sunoco by 176.6% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 700,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,591,000 after buying an additional 447,072 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Sunoco by 39.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,901 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,747,000 after buying an additional 8,764 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sunoco by 3.7% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,296 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Sunoco by 5.8% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,447 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Company Profile

Sunoco LP, together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails motor fuels in the United States. It operates through two segments: Fuel Distribution and Marketing, and All Other. The Fuel Distribution and Marketing segment purchases motor fuel, as well as other petroleum products, such as propane and lubricating oil from independent refiners and oil companies and supplies it to company-operated retail stores, independently operated commission agents, and retail stores, as well as other commercial customers, including unbranded retail stores, other fuel distributors, school districts, municipalities, and other industrial customers.