Lee Financial Co Buys 21,886 Shares of Sunoco LP $SUN

Lee Financial Co grew its stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 573.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,705 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,886 shares during the period. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $1,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Sunoco during the third quarter valued at about $644,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 228,429 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,424,000 after purchasing an additional 84,000 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Sunoco by 470.0% during the second quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 113,263 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,070,000 after purchasing an additional 93,394 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Sunoco by 4.0% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 670,269 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $35,920,000 after purchasing an additional 25,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco in the second quarter valued at $407,000. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Stock Performance

NYSE:SUN opened at $57.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. Sunoco LP has a 1 year low of $47.98 and a 1 year high of $59.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.93 and a 200-day moving average of $53.00.

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

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.9317 dividend. This represents a $3.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is 125.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SUN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sunoco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sunoco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 price target on shares of Sunoco and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Sunoco in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Sunoco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Sunoco 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.