Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 15,723 Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) by 30.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,551 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 15,723 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Sunoco were worth $2,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SUN. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Sunoco by 12.3% during 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 buying an additional 2,529,170 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Sunoco by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,868,926 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $456,218,000 after buying an additional 198,859 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Sunoco by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,608,701 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $134,192,000 after buying an additional 128,042 shares during the period. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Sunoco by 2.9% during 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 buying an additional 24,686 shares during the period. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its position in Sunoco by 15.5% during the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 687,244 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $39,901,000 after buying an additional 92,187 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of SUN stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.51. 202,159 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 353,386. Sunoco LP has a 12 month low of $48.00 and a 12 month high of $59.88. The company has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company's 50 day moving average price is $53.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.48). The business had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Sunoco had a return on equity of 20.34% and a net margin of 3.80%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.9088 per share. This is a boost from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Sunoco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on SUN. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sunoco from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Sunoco from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.75.

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.