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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Suncor Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SU. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Suncor Energy by 64.1% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 143.5% during the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 789 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 95.8% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 793 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Suncor Energy in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Suncor Energy in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. 67.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Trading Up 2.3%

SU stock opened at $50.50 on Thursday. Suncor Energy has a 1-year low of $30.79 and a 1-year high of $50.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $44.99 and its 200-day moving average is $41.94. The firm has a market cap of $60.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 0.46.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.07 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $9.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. 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 currently 56.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Suncor Energy from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Suncor Energy in a research note on Friday, October 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $55.67.

Suncor Energy Company 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.