Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU)

Key Points

• Investors purchased an unusually large volume of put options on Suncor — **28,315 puts**, a **2,998%** increase versus the typical daily put volume of 914, indicating heavy bearish bets or hedging activity.
• Wall Street is largely positive on the stock: multiple upgrades and higher targets from firms including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and RBC have left Suncor with an average **"Buy"** rating and an average price target of **$72.00**.
• Suncor pays a quarterly dividend of $0.60 (annualized $2.40) for a **3.8% yield** and trades near $62.95 with a market cap of about $74.7 billion and a P/E of 18.14.

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU - Get Free Report) TSE: SU saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 28,315 put options on the company. This is an increase of 2,998% compared to the typical volume of 914 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Suncor Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Suncor Energy by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 635 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Suncor Energy by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 704 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Suncor Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Suncor Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 143.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 789 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on SU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Suncor Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $46.15 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Suncor Energy from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from $75.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $72.00.

Suncor Energy Price Performance

NYSE SU opened at $62.95 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.72. Suncor Energy has a 52-week low of $33.39 and a 52-week high of $67.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $74.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 0.32.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU - Get Free Report) TSE: SU last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.99%.The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Suncor Energy's dividend payout ratio is 50.72%.

Suncor Energy Company Profile

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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