Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 56,000 Shares of Sunoco LP $SUN

Key Points

• Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors sharply increased its Sunoco stake in Q1, buying 56,000 shares and lifting its holdings to 56,800 shares valued at about $3.69 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on Sunoco LP is generally positive, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $74.75; several firms recently raised targets or upgraded the stock.
• Sunoco reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.9899 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 5.3%.

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) by 7,000.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,800 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,000 shares during the quarter. Sunoco accounts for 0.6% of Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Sunoco were worth $3,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Sunoco by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 24,856,265 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,302,717,000 after buying an additional 766,781 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,916,858 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $95,862,000 after purchasing an additional 32,866 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,639,420 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $85,922,000 after purchasing an additional 617,700 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sunoco by 266.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,626,278 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $85,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its stake in Sunoco by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 816,233 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $53,031,000 after purchasing an additional 126,964 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sunoco from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sunoco from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Sunoco to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Sunoco from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Sunoco from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.75.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SUN opened at $74.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.60 and a 200-day moving average of $63.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.42. Sunoco LP has a fifty-two week low of $47.98 and a fifty-two week high of $74.29.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $1.14. Sunoco had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 3.07%.The company had revenue of $10.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The business's revenue was up 106.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sunoco LP will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.9899 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. This is a boost from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Sunoco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.28%.

Sunoco Profile

Sunoco LP NYSE: SUN is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company‐owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco's product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on‐road diesel treated to meet ultra‐low sulfur requirements.

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