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

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 28,315 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,998% compared to the average daily volume of 914 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on SU shares. StockNews.com downgraded Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research started coverage on Suncor Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Suncor Energy from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Suncor Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Institutional Trading of Suncor Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SU. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Suncor Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Suncor Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $2,804,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Suncor Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Suncor Energy by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,479 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Suncor Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,534,957 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,619,140,000 after acquiring an additional 155,343 shares during the last quarter. 67.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SU opened at $38.98 on Friday. Suncor Energy has a 12-month low of $29.45 and a 12-month high of $41.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $49.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.04 and its 200 day moving average is $38.72.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.30 billion. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Suncor Energy will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $0.395 dividend. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

About Suncor Energy

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.