Bank of America Corp DE Sells 158,484 Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) by 38.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 251,562 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 158,484 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.17% of Sunoco worth $12,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sunoco in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new position in Sunoco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Sunoco by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,245 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,633 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 4th quarter worth $90,000. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sunoco from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Sunoco from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.33.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Sunoco stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.69. The stock had a trading volume of 22,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 451,528. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. Sunoco LP has a 52-week low of $48.00 and a 52-week high of $59.88. The company has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's fifty day moving average is $56.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.44.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.48). Sunoco had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.8976 dividend. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. This is a boost from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Sunoco's payout ratio is 64.68%.

Sunoco Company Profile

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.