Investors Purchase High Volume of Suncor Energy Put Options (NYSE:SU)

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Suncor Energy in a research report on Friday, October 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SU. Shell Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 65.8% in the second quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 103,082 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,854,000 after purchasing an additional 40,892 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 1.3% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 796,967 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $30,859,000 after purchasing an additional 10,514 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 65.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,018,129 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $620,136,000 after purchasing an additional 6,311,513 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Suncor Energy in the second quarter worth $9,653,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 13.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,492,472 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $135,228,000 after purchasing an additional 409,032 shares in the last quarter. 67.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Price Performance

Shares of SU opened at $39.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $47.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Suncor Energy has a 12 month low of $30.79 and a 12 month high of $43.48.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.56 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 11.35%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Suncor Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.4135 per share. This represents a $1.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This is an increase from Suncor Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.77%.

Suncor Energy Company Profile

Suncor Energy Inc operates as an integrated energy company in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; and Refining and Marketing segments. The Oil Sands segment explores, develops, and produces bitumen, synthetic crude oil, and related products.