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

Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.75.

A number of analysts have recently commented on SUN shares. Barclays upped their price target on Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of SUN stock opened at $53.46 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.16. Sunoco has a 52-week low of $49.45 and a 52-week high of $64.89. The stock has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 1.36.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($1.79). The company had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. Sunoco had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sunoco will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.8756 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.55%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SUN. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco during the second quarter worth about $46,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sunoco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $129,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 5.6% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 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.