Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Sunoco LP has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from six brokerages, with four analysts recommending a buy and two recommending hold.
• The company has a current price target of $64.50, with recent price adjustments from analysts including a drop by Mizuho and an increase by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Sunoco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9088, reflecting an increase from the previous dividend, resulting in an annual yield of 7.2%.

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.50.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Sunoco from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sunoco from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Sunoco in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Sunoco from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SUN opened at $50.72 on Wednesday. Sunoco has a fifty-two week low of $47.98 and a fifty-two week high of $59.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99 and a beta of 0.53.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by ($1.35). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.85 EPS. Sunoco's revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Sunoco will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.9088 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 23,132,625 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,343,080,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529,170 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,165,717 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $532,162,000 after acquiring an additional 296,791 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,978,209 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $172,915,000 after acquiring an additional 369,508 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,883,992 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $100,963,000 after acquiring an additional 73,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 691,096 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $37,036,000 after acquiring an additional 3,852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company's stock.

About Sunoco

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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