Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.14.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup raised Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 7th.

Sunoco Stock Up 0.7 %

Sunoco stock opened at $52.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.26. Sunoco has a fifty-two week low of $44.26 and a fifty-two week high of $64.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.73.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $2.62. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.63 billion. Sunoco had a return on equity of 41.76% and a net margin of 3.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Sunoco will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.8756 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.66%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.95%.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Sunoco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. CNB Bank purchased a new position in Sunoco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Sunoco during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sunoco during the second quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

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.