Suncor Energy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SU)

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 28,315 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 2,998% compared to the average volume of 914 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Suncor Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Suncor Energy by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 635 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Suncor Energy by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Suncor Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in Suncor Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Suncor Energy by 143.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 67.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Suncor Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $46.15 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Suncor Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.67.

Suncor Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SU opened at $61.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $54.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 0.43. Suncor Energy has a 1 year low of $30.79 and a 1 year high of $63.96.

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

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

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.