Suncor Energy Inc. $SU Position Cut by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Lazard Asset Management reduced its Suncor Energy stake by 1.5% in the first quarter, selling 43,710 shares and retaining 2.90 million shares valued at approximately $191.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 67.37% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall: Suncor has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $71.67, although Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to “Neutral” while RBC raised its target to $89.
• Suncor reported quarterly EPS of $1.41, slightly below estimates, but revenue of $10.41 billion exceeded expectations. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% annualized yield.

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU - Free Report) TSE: SU by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,895,460 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 43,710 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.25% of Suncor Energy worth $191,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Suncor Energy by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,720,921 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,473,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,405 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 121.4% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,085,360 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,724,954,000 after buying an additional 14,304,131 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 21,050,387 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $934,312,000 after buying an additional 2,592,516 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,371,704 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $860,933,000 after buying an additional 516,783 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 16,820,924 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $746,176,000 after buying an additional 1,289,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Suncor Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Suncor Energy from $75.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Suncor Energy from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Scotiabank raised Suncor Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $71.67.

Suncor Energy Price Performance

NYSE SU opened at $65.84 on Monday. Suncor Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.76 and a 12 month high of $70.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.30. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $60.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.48.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU - Get Free Report) TSE: SU last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.45 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $10.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 12.29%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Suncor Energy Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Suncor Energy's payout ratio is currently 45.41%.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company's operations span the full oil and gas value chain, with principal activities in oil sands development and production, conventional exploration and production, refining, distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products. Suncor supplies crude, synthetic crude and refined fuels as well as related products and services to commercial and consumer markets.

Upstream, Suncor is a major developer and operator of oil sands projects in Alberta, using both mining and in situ technologies to produce bitumen and synthetic crude.

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