Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $46.15 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Suncor Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Suncor Energy from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Suncor Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SU. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 25,015 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Suncor Energy by 172.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,981 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Suncor Energy by 3.0% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 92,739 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in Suncor Energy by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 6,712 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Suncor Energy by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 878,325 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,901,000 after buying an additional 130,802 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.37% of the company’s stock.

Suncor Energy Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of SU opened at $64.94 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71 and a beta of 0.43. Suncor Energy has a 1-year low of $30.79 and a 1-year high of $65.65.

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

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.72%.

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.