Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to “Overweight” Rating

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $54.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock, up from their prior target price of $46.15.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Suncor Energy from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Suncor Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

Suncor Energy Trading Down 0.8%

Suncor Energy stock opened at $49.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.86 and a 200-day moving average of $41.88. The company has a market cap of $58.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 0.46. Suncor Energy has a one year low of $30.79 and a one year high of $50.82.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.22. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 10.61%.The business had revenue of $9.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Suncor Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Suncor Energy’s payout ratio is presently 56.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 38.5% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 33,722,975 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,264,043,000 after acquiring an additional 9,378,552 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Suncor Energy by 85.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,530,965 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $649,350,000 after buying an additional 7,158,953 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 62.2% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,335,239 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $557,682,000 after buying an additional 5,113,280 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 29.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,555,381 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $395,649,000 after buying an additional 2,406,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in shares of Suncor Energy in the second quarter valued at about $74,767,000. 67.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Suncor Energy

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.