Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

SUN has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Sunoco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Sunoco in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Sunoco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research raised Sunoco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 price target on Sunoco and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Sunoco Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE SUN opened at $57.51 on Friday. Sunoco has a one year low of $47.98 and a one year high of $59.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The firm has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $54.93 and its 200-day moving average is $53.00.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.54 by ($0.90). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.61% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. Sunoco’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sunoco will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Sunoco by 6.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 159,128 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,239,000 after buying an additional 9,592 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,086 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $916,000 after acquiring an additional 2,639 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,939,000. Finally, Cypress Capital Group bought a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $462,000. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sunoco Company Profile

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.