Suncor Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SU)

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU - Get Free Report) TSE: SU saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 28,315 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,998% compared to the average daily volume of 914 put options.

Institutional Trading of Suncor Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 33,106 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 6.1% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 4,879 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 6.7% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 5,050 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 11.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,278 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 82.8% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 724 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the period. 67.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SU shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Suncor Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Suncor Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of SU stock traded up $0.33 on Thursday, hitting $38.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,513,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,343,576. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's 50 day moving average is $39.05 and its 200-day moving average is $38.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.46. Suncor Energy has a 52-week low of $29.45 and a 52-week high of $41.94.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU - Get Free Report) TSE: SU last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.30 billion. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Suncor Energy will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $0.395 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. Suncor Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc operates as an integrated energy company in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; and Refining and Marketing segments. The Oil Sands segment explores, develops, and produces bitumen, synthetic crude oil, and related products.