Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,640,000 shares, an increase of 68.2% from the January 15th total of 1,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 499,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Sunoco Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:SUN traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $57.15. 413,740 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 638,897. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.47. Sunoco has a 12 month low of $49.45 and a 12 month high of $64.89. The company has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.73). Sunoco had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.72%. Equities analysts predict that Sunoco will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.8865 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Sunoco’s payout ratio is currently 80.46%.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 11.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 96,377 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,080 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 26.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,191,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $117,644,000 after buying an additional 455,361 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 5,437.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 572,779 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,747,000 after buying an additional 562,435 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter worth approximately $850,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter worth approximately $524,000. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.43.

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.