Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.67.

SUN has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sunoco from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SUN. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Sunoco during the 4th quarter worth $102,000. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sunoco by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 888,862 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,723,000 after acquiring an additional 24,686 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,608,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $134,192,000 after purchasing an additional 128,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 11,097 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 4,109 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE SUN opened at $57.09 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.33. The company has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.35. Sunoco has a 12 month low of $49.45 and a 12 month high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted 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 22.52% and a net margin of 3.85%. As a group, research analysts predict that Sunoco will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.8865 dividend. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.64%.

About Sunoco

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.