Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) Short Interest Up 202.3% in February

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 19,196,977 shares, a growth of 202.3% from the January 29th total of 6,349,777 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,944,954 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 5,944,954 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Suncor Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,720,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,473,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,405 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Suncor Energy by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 33,868,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,417,029,000 after purchasing an additional 145,800 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in Suncor Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 27,471,954 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,148,602,000 after purchasing an additional 70,300 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 21,050,387 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $934,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 3.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,911,602 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $779,788,000 after purchasing an additional 641,354 shares in the last quarter. 67.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Stock Performance

SU traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $55.41. 697,330 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,178,099. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.93 and its 200 day moving average is $44.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 0.46. Suncor Energy has a 52 week low of $30.79 and a 52 week high of $57.13.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.79 billion. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SU. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Suncor Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Suncor Energy from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Suncor Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.00.

Suncor Energy Company Profile

Suncor Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company’s operations span the full oil and gas value chain, with principal activities in oil sands development and production, conventional exploration and production, refining, distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products. Suncor supplies crude, synthetic crude and refined fuels as well as related products and services to commercial and consumer markets.

Upstream, Suncor is a major developer and operator of oil sands projects in Alberta, using both mining and in situ technologies to produce bitumen and synthetic crude.