Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Sunday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Suncor Energy in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Friday, October 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Suncor Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Suncor Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Suncor Energy Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Suncor Energy stock opened at $43.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.74 and a 200 day moving average of $40.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.46. Suncor Energy has a fifty-two week low of $30.79 and a fifty-two week high of $45.60.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $9.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 10.61%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Suncor Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. This is a positive change from Suncor Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Suncor Energy by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,631,516 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,046,442,000 after buying an additional 1,632,247 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 0.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,148,602,000 after purchasing an additional 70,300 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Suncor Energy by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,911,602 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $779,788,000 after purchasing an additional 641,354 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,854,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $789,213,000 after buying an additional 106,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.37% of the company’s stock.

About Suncor Energy

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.