Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Acquires 145,800 Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. $SU

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,868,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 145,800 shares during the quarter. Suncor Energy accounts for approximately 2.0% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Suncor Energy were worth $1,417,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Suncor Energy by 3.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,631,516 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,046,442,000 after acquiring an additional 1,632,247 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,911,602 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $779,788,000 after purchasing an additional 641,354 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Suncor Energy by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,854,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $789,213,000 after purchasing an additional 106,765 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in 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 valued at $395,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,406,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Suncor Energy by 18.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,147,653 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $387,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,520 shares during the period. 67.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SU opened at $55.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $66.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.46. Suncor Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.79 and a 52-week high of $57.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.60.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.99%.The firm had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Suncor Energy Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on SU shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $46.15 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Suncor Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Suncor Energy 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.