Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.8333.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SUN shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Sunoco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sunoco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays set a $63.00 price target on shares of Sunoco in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th.

Sunoco Trading Up 2.9%

NYSE:SUN opened at $66.31 on Wednesday. Sunoco has a 52 week low of $47.98 and a 52 week high of $67.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.56 and a 200 day moving average of $56.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 0.48.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($1.55). The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.65 billion. Sunoco had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 2.01%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 63.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sunoco will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a $0.9317 dividend. This is an increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is 164.32%.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter worth $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter worth $40,000. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 496.5% in the fourth quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 853 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 110.3% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,569 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

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.