Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 344,839 Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 344,839 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $17,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.23% of Sunoco at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SUN. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 96,377 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $5,236,000 after buying an additional 10,080 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Sunoco during the fourth quarter worth $256,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Sunoco by 26.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Sunoco during the third quarter worth $524,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Sunoco by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,364 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 1,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company's stock.

Sunoco Trading Down 1.6 %

Sunoco stock traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 948,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 492,730. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.26. Sunoco LP has a 12 month low of $49.45 and a 12 month high of $62.55. The stock has a market cap of $8.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.73). Sunoco had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 3.85%. As a group, 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 was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.8865 dividend. This is a positive change from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Sunoco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SUN. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sunoco from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Sunoco from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.67.

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.