Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Sunoco from a "strong sell" to a "hold," while MarketBeat's consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $67.83.
• Sunoco's latest quarter showed a significant earnings miss—EPS $0.09 vs. $1.64 expected—and revenue of $8.60 billion (vs. $9.65 billion expected), although revenue was up ~63% year-over-year.
• The stock traded around $64.82 (up ~1.2%) with a market cap of ~$13.3B, and analysts remain mixed, with JPMorgan lifting its target to $73 and Raymond James upgrading to a strong-buy with a $70 target.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

SUN has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Sunoco from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Sunoco from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sunoco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Sunoco from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.83.

Sunoco Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Sunoco stock opened at $64.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50-day moving average is $62.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.15. Sunoco has a 1 year low of $47.98 and a 1 year high of $67.82.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($1.55). Sunoco had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 2.01%.The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Sunoco's revenue for the quarter was up 63.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Sunoco will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SUN. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sunoco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sunoco by 496.5% in the 4th quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 853 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Sunoco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Sunoco by 110.3% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,569 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company's stock.

Sunoco Company Profile

Sunoco LP NYSE: SUN is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company‐owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco's product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on‐road diesel treated to meet ultra‐low sulfur requirements.

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