Insider Buying: Sunoco (TXSE:SUN) Director Buys $92,295.00 in Stock

Sunoco LP (TXSE:SUN) Director David Skidmore bought 1,500 shares of Sunoco stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $61.53 per share, with a total value of $92,295.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 20,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,624.44. This represents a 7.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of SUN stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 481,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 493,707. The company has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.54 and a 200-day moving average of $68.65. Sunoco LP has a 52 week low of $49.98 and a 52 week high of $80.22.

Sunoco (TXSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.39). Sunoco had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $18.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sunoco LP will post 10.60 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $1.0148 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $4.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.0023. Sunoco’s payout ratio is 68.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Sunoco from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Mizuho set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Sunoco in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.12.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SUN. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Sunoco by 172.5% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,575 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 6,061 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco during the third quarter valued at about $119,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sunoco by 10.4% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 11,369 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 4.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,071 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

About Sunoco

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) is a master limited partnership focused primarily on the distribution and wholesale marketing of motor fuels. The company supplies gasoline, diesel and other refined products to independent fuel retailers, commercial customers, distributors and other end users, including customers operating under the Sunoco brand. Sunoco’s operations include fuel terminals, pipelines, transportation assets and other logistics infrastructure used to receive, store, blend and deliver petroleum products.