First Trust Advisors LP Increases Position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,235 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,982 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.05% of Sunoco worth $4,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SUN. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in Sunoco in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,245 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,633 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 440.3% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,783 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 90.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,723 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SUN. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Sunoco from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Sunoco from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.33.

Sunoco Stock Performance

NYSE:SUN traded down $3.29 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $54.66. 2,009,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 492,016. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Sunoco LP has a 52-week low of $48.00 and a 52-week high of $59.88. The company's 50 day moving average price is $56.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.04.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.73). Sunoco had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 3.85%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.8976 per share. This is a boost from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Sunoco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.39%.

Sunoco Company 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.