Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Sunoco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 price objective on Sunoco and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Sunoco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Sunoco in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Sunoco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of SUN stock opened at $57.51 on Friday. Sunoco has a 52 week low of $47.98 and a 52 week high of $59.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.93 and its 200-day moving average is $53.00.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by ($0.90). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.61% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Sunoco will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SUN. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Sunoco by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Sunoco by 5.2% during the third quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,249 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Sunoco by 2.1% in the second quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC raised its holdings in Sunoco by 2.8% in the third quarter. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC now owns 9,036 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Investment Management LP boosted its position in shares of Sunoco by 0.7% during the third quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 39,088 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Company Profile

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company‐owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco’s product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on‐road diesel treated to meet ultra‐low sulfur requirements.