Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys New Stake in Sunoco LP $SUN

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Sunoco LP, purchasing 166,800 shares valued at approximately $8.94 million, representing about 0.11% ownership of the company.
• Sunoco LP's quarterly dividend increased to $0.9088 per share, yielding 7.2%, which is up from the previous $0.90 dividend.
• The company reported a loss in earnings per share of $1.35 compared to analyst estimates, posting an EPS of $0.33 for the last quarter amidst a 12.7% year-over-year revenue decline.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 166,800 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $8,939,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.11% of Sunoco at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sunoco by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Sunoco by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Sunoco by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,252 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Sunoco by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,262 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in Sunoco by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 18,301 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SUN shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sunoco from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.50.

Sunoco Price Performance

NYSE:SUN opened at $50.57 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.53 and a 200-day moving average of $53.78. The company has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91 and a beta of 0.53. Sunoco LP has a 52 week low of $47.98 and a 52 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 data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by ($1.35). The business had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Sunoco had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 2.02%.Sunoco's revenue was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.9088 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Sunoco's payout ratio is 179.31%.

Sunoco 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.

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