Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Short Interest Down 19.5% in June

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,240,000 shares, a drop of 19.5% from the May 31st total of 1,540,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 666,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Sunoco Stock Down 0.8 %

SUN stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $56.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 515,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,544. Sunoco has a 12 month low of $43.10 and a 12 month high of $64.89. The firm's 50-day moving average is $53.99 and its 200-day moving average is $57.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 1.29.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The oil and gas company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06. Sunoco had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 35.56%. The company had revenue of $5.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.13 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sunoco will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.876 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.20%. This is a positive change from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Sunoco's payout ratio is presently 77.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sunoco

In other Sunoco news, Director David K. Skidmore bought 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.10 per share, for a total transaction of $78,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at $761,076.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director David K. Skidmore purchased 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $52.10 per share, with a total value of $78,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $761,076.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph Kim acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $50.50 per share, with a total value of $252,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $505,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 9,500 shares of company stock worth $479,570 over the last ninety days.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SUN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Sunoco by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,904,735 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $174,081,000 after acquiring an additional 275,875 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 2,387,608 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $143,089,000 after purchasing an additional 876,452 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Sunoco by 6,075.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 574,315 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $34,419,000 after purchasing an additional 565,015 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Sunoco by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 540,949 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $32,419,000 after purchasing an additional 219,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its holdings in 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 valued at $26,357,000 after purchasing an additional 17,757 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SUN. Citigroup upgraded shares of Sunoco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Sunoco in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upgraded shares of Sunoco from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Sunoco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $62.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sunoco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.00.

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.