Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Sunoco in a report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sunoco in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Sunoco and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Sunoco Stock Performance

NYSE SUN opened at $52.69 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.51. Sunoco has a 1 year low of $47.98 and a 1 year high of $59.88.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.54 by ($0.90). The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. Sunoco had a net margin of 2.61% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sunoco will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SUN. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 12.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 142,055 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,104,000 after purchasing an additional 15,810 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Sunoco during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,104,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $134,000. Abel Hall LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter valued at about $300,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco during the third quarter worth about $219,000. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Company Profile

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company‐owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco’s product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on‐road diesel treated to meet ultra‐low sulfur requirements.