Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on SUN. Citigroup upgraded shares of Sunoco from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Sunoco in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. They set an overweight rating and a $61.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upgraded Sunoco from a neutral rating to a buy rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Sunoco from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $62.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sunoco presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $61.86.

Sunoco Stock Down 4.0 %

SUN stock opened at $50.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 1.31. Sunoco has a 52-week low of $43.85 and a 52-week high of $64.89.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $2.62. Sunoco had a return on equity of 35.56% and a net margin of 2.08%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sunoco will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a $0.8756 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.90%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sunoco news, EVP Austin Harkness bought 1,000 shares of Sunoco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $49.74 per share, with a total value of $49,740.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,162,541.64. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Joseph Kim purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $50.50 per share, with a total value of $252,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Austin Harkness acquired 1,000 shares of Sunoco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $49.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,740.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 83,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,162,541.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $401,420.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunoco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SUN. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Sunoco by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,583 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Sunoco during the 4th quarter valued at about $905,000. Fractal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 1,110.0% in the 4th quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 242,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $14,503,000 after purchasing an additional 222,000 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,904,735 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,081,000 after buying an additional 275,875 shares during the period. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Sunoco by 4.2% during the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 437,171 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $26,357,000 after buying an additional 17,757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

About Sunoco

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.