Ethos Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 7,777 Sunoco LP $SUN

Key Points

• Ethos Financial Group LLC acquired 7,777 shares of Sunoco LP, valued at approximately $452,000, marking a significant new position in the company.
• Sunoco recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.9088 per share, representing an annualized yield of 6.9%.
• Analysts provided mixed updates on Sunoco, with Mizuho lowering the price target from $68.00 to $67.00, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised it from $66.00 to $67.00.

Ethos Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,777 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $452,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Sunoco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $102,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 17.1% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,865 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Income Solutions Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company's stock.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of Sunoco stock traded up $0.0860 on Friday, hitting $51.9660. The company's stock had a trading volume of 235,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 431,821. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.52. Sunoco LP has a 1 year low of $48.00 and a 1 year high of $59.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.31. The company has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 0.60.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.68 by ($1.35). Sunoco had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 2.02%.The firm had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.85 earnings per share. Sunoco's quarterly revenue was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.9088 dividend. This is a boost from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Sunoco's payout ratio is currently 179.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Sunoco from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Sunoco from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.75.

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.