Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.75.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SUN. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SUN. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Sunoco during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sunoco during the second quarter worth about $93,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Sunoco in the 4th quarter valued at about $129,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $165,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 5.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SUN opened at $53.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 1.36. Sunoco has a 52 week low of $49.45 and a 52 week high of $64.89.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($1.79). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The company had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Sunoco will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.8756 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.46%.

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.