Stephens Inc. AR Takes $442,000 Position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,616 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $442,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Sunoco by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,262 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sunoco by 7.3% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Sunoco by 4.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 25,232 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sunoco in the first quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in Sunoco in the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SUN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sunoco from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on Sunoco from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sunoco from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sunoco presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.75.

Sunoco Stock Up 0.3%

SUN stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.65. 421,190 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 440,255. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $54.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.55. 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 LP has a 1-year low of $48.00 and a 1-year high of $59.88. The firm has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.61.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Sunoco had a net margin of 3.80% and a return on equity of 20.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.8976 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.82%. This is an increase from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Sunoco's payout ratio is currently 64.68%.

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.