Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Stock Picked Up by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan initiated coverage of Sunoco with an “overweight” rating and an $87 price target, implying approximately 19.55% upside from the stock’s reported price of $72.78.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: Sunoco has an average “Buy” rating and an average price target of $79.75, with Barclays, Mizuho, and Wells Fargo also maintaining or assigning targets above the current share price.
• Sunoco’s latest quarterly results were mixed, with revenue rising 164.5% year over year to $14.26 billion but earnings per share of $0.94 falling short of the $2.50 consensus estimate.

Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set an "overweight" rating and a $87.00 price target on the oil and gas company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective suggests a potential upside of 19.55% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on SUN. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Sunoco in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho set a $83.00 price target on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sunoco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Sunoco in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $79.75.

Sunoco Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SUN traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $72.78. 4,460 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 492,987. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.81. Sunoco has a 12-month low of $49.98 and a 12-month high of $80.22. The stock has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($1.56). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The company had revenue of $14.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 164.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sunoco will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sunoco by 51.5% during the first quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,027,877 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $66,781,000 after purchasing an additional 349,254 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 34.1% in the first quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 972,935 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $63,212,000 after purchasing an additional 247,569 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its position in shares of Sunoco by 18.4% in the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 816,233 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $53,031,000 after purchasing an additional 126,964 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,993,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sunoco by 7,000.0% in the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 56,800 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,690,000 after purchasing an additional 56,000 shares during the period. 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.

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