Cascade Investment Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Cascade Investment Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,780 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the period. Sunoco accounts for about 1.1% of Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $1,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CNB Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco during the first quarter worth approximately $55,000. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SUN shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.14.

Sunoco Price Performance

Sunoco stock opened at $52.45 on Wednesday. Sunoco LP has a one year low of $49.00 and a one year high of $64.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.27. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 1.30.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $2.62. Sunoco had a return on equity of 41.76% and a net margin of 3.80%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sunoco’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Sunoco LP will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.8756 per share. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.95%.

About Sunoco

Sunoco LP, together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails motor fuels in the United States. It operates through two segments: Fuel Distribution and Marketing, and All Other. The Fuel Distribution and Marketing segment purchases motor fuel, as well as other petroleum products, such as propane and lubricating oil from independent refiners and oil companies and supplies it to company-operated retail stores, independently operated commission agents, and retail stores, as well as other commercial customers, including unbranded retail stores, other fuel distributors, school districts, municipalities, and other industrial customers.