Ellsworth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 31,342 Sunoco LP $SUN

Key Points

• Ellsworth Advisors LLC made a new investment of $1.82 million in Sunoco LP, acquiring 31,342 shares of the company during the first quarter.
• Sunoco LP has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.9088, up from the previous $0.90, resulting in a 7.2% dividend yield.
• The company reported earnings of $0.33 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $1.68, with a revenue decline of 12.7% year over year.

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 31,342 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,820,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Sunoco by 12.3% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 23,132,625 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,343,080,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529,170 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Sunoco by 3.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,165,717 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $532,162,000 after acquiring an additional 296,791 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Sunoco by 14.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,978,209 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $172,915,000 after acquiring an additional 369,508 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its position in Sunoco by 2.6% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,810,296 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $105,106,000 after acquiring an additional 45,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sunoco by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 888,862 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $45,723,000 after purchasing an additional 24,686 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company's stock.

Sunoco Stock Performance

NYSE SUN traded down $0.35 on Friday, reaching $50.15. 250,635 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 333,806. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.59. The firm has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71 and a beta of 0.58. Sunoco LP has a fifty-two week low of $48.00 and a fifty-two week high of $59.88. 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 (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.33 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.85 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.9088 dividend. This is a positive change from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. Sunoco's dividend payout ratio is currently 179.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SUN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.50.

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.