Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $74.1250.

SUN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sunoco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Sunoco from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Sunoco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Sunoco from $63.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunoco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sunoco by 44.0% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,986 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 3,358 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the first quarter worth approximately $138,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 32.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 204,609 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $13,293,000 after purchasing an additional 49,589 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 7.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 190,474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,375,000 after purchasing an additional 12,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sunoco by 51.5% during the 1st quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,027,877 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $66,781,000 after purchasing an additional 349,254 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of SUN opened at $65.28 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.47. Sunoco has a 1-year low of $47.98 and a 1-year high of $72.88.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $1.14. Sunoco had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 3.07%.The firm had revenue of $10.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sunoco will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.9899 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Sunoco’s payout ratio is presently 101.28%.

About Sunoco

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company‐owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco’s product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on‐road diesel treated to meet ultra‐low sulfur requirements.