Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $17.74 Million in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 344,839 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $17,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Sunoco at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SUN. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,868,926 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $456,218,000 after buying an additional 198,859 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Sunoco by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,191,570 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $117,644,000 after purchasing an additional 455,361 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in Sunoco by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 595,057 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $30,610,000 after purchasing an additional 5,296 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its position in Sunoco by 223.7% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 513,715 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $26,426,000 after purchasing an additional 355,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 908,833.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 436,288 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $23,419,000 after purchasing an additional 436,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SUN. Barclays lowered their price objective on Sunoco from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.33.

Sunoco Trading Down 0.5 %

Sunoco stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.47. 34,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 505,165. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.06. Sunoco LP has a 12 month low of $48.00 and a 12 month high of $59.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $56.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.76.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.73). Sunoco had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 3.85%. Analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.8976 dividend. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. This is an increase from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Sunoco's payout ratio is currently 53.64%.

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.