Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.14.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Mizuho raised Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SUN. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. CNB Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sunoco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco during the second quarter valued at about $46,000. 24.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sunoco Price Performance

Sunoco stock opened at $53.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.88. Sunoco has a 52 week low of $46.55 and a 52 week high of $64.89.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $2.62. Sunoco had a return on equity of 41.76% and a net margin of 3.80%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sunoco’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Sunoco will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.8756 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Sunoco’s payout ratio is 77.95%.

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.