Raymond James & Associates Increases Stock Position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,908 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,928 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.09% of Sunoco worth $3,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SUN. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Sunoco by 8.9% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,939 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Sunoco by 70.2% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 23,016 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 9,491 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake in Sunoco by 7.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 5,369 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Sunoco by 5.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 25,640 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 15,519 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. 16.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sunoco Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE SUN opened at $45.10 on Friday. Sunoco LP has a 52-week low of $34.26 and a 52-week high of $46.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $6.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.58 billion. Sunoco had a return on equity of 56.02% and a net margin of 2.10%. Sell-side analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 4th were given a $0.8255 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 3rd. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.32%. Sunoco’s payout ratio is presently 63.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SUN. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Sunoco from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 2nd. Mizuho raised their price target on Sunoco from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Sunoco from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Friday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.71.

Sunoco Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Sunoco LP, together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails motor fuels in the United States. It operates in two segments, Fuel Distribution and Marketing, and All Other. The Fuel Distribution and Marketing segment purchases motor fuel from independent refiners and oil companies and supplies it to independently operated dealer stations, distributors and other consumer of motor fuel, and partnership operated stations, as well as to commission agent locations.