Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 6,311,513 Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU - Free Report) TSE: SU by 65.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,018,129 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 6,311,513 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.30% of Suncor Energy worth $620,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Suncor Energy by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,019,357 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,892,526,000 after acquiring an additional 323,714 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in Suncor Energy by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 24,289,019 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $865,885,000 after acquiring an additional 169,700 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Suncor Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 23,308,055 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $831,631,000 after acquiring an additional 209,447 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Suncor Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 19,098,225 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $680,847,000 after acquiring an additional 552,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Suncor Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,981,927 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $391,809,000 after acquiring an additional 445,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SU has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Suncor Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Suncor Energy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.67.

Suncor Energy Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE SU traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,466,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,460,472. The stock has a market cap of $46.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Suncor Energy Inc. has a one year low of $30.79 and a one year high of $41.95. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $36.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.99.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU - Get Free Report) TSE: SU last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 11.95% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The company had revenue of $9.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Suncor Energy Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.4133 per share. This is a positive change from Suncor Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. Suncor Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.84%.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc operates as an integrated energy company in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; and Refining and Marketing segments. The Oil Sands segment explores, develops, and produces bitumen, synthetic crude oil, and related products.