Analysts Set Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Price Target at $62.25

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.25.

SUN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SUN opened at $54.33 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $52.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.53. Sunoco has a 52-week low of $49.45 and a 52-week high of $64.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 1.31.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($1.79). Sunoco had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.72%. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sunoco will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.8756 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 0.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 25,251 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Sunoco by 5.4% in the third quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,905 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in Sunoco by 2.1% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 10,553 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $597,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Sunoco by 2.5% in the second quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Sunoco by 2.6% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,627 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Company Profile

Sunoco LP, together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails motor fuels in the United States. It operates through two segments: Fuel Distribution and Marketing, and All Other. The Fuel Distribution and Marketing segment purchases motor fuel, as well as other petroleum products, such as propane and lubricating oil from independent refiners and oil companies and supplies it to company-operated retail stores, independently operated commission agents, and retail stores, as well as other commercial customers, including unbranded retail stores, other fuel distributors, school districts, municipalities, and other industrial customers.