Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.14.

A number of brokerages recently commented on SUN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup raised Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of SUN opened at $53.42 on Tuesday. 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 $53.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.75. The stock has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.30. Sunoco has a 52 week low of $46.55 and a 52 week high of $64.89.

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

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.8756 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.56%. Sunoco’s payout ratio is currently 77.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SUN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sunoco by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,904,735 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,081,000 after purchasing an additional 275,875 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC increased its holdings in Sunoco by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 24,779 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Tortoise Index Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Sunoco by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Index Solutions LLC now owns 73,350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,396,000 after purchasing an additional 8,358 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in Sunoco by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 2,387,608 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $143,089,000 after purchasing an additional 876,452 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sunoco by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.