Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Position in Sunoco LP $SUN

Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 190,474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,806 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.09% of Sunoco worth $12,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 12,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sunoco by 226.2% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,088 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 4,915 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Sunoco by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 365,953 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,611,000 after acquiring an additional 18,990 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 37,488 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 2,810 shares during the period. Finally, Curi Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the second quarter valued at $258,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of SUN stock opened at $70.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Sunoco LP has a fifty-two week low of $47.98 and a fifty-two week high of $78.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.89.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($1.56). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The company had revenue of $14.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 164.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sunoco LP will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $1.0023 dividend. This represents a $4.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Sunoco’s payout ratio is currently 87.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SUN. Citigroup increased their target price on Sunoco from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Sunoco in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Sunoco in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sunoco from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.00.

About Sunoco

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.