Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Stake in Suncor Energy Inc. $SU

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) by 96.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,274 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,052,640 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Suncor Energy were worth $1,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 57,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after buying an additional 13,700 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,485 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 916 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new position in Suncor Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $609,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Suncor Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,037 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,687,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.37% of the company’s stock.

Suncor Energy Trading Down 1.0%

SU opened at $65.97 on Tuesday. Suncor Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.79 and a 12 month high of $67.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.86.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.79 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.99%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Suncor Energy Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SU. Wall Street Zen downgraded Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $46.15 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.67.

Suncor Energy 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.