Analysts Set Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) PT at $62.43

Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.43.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Sunoco Price Performance

NYSE SUN traded up $1.55 on Monday, hitting $59.24. The stock had a trading volume of 795,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,076. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.75 and a 200-day moving average of $53.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.16. Sunoco has a 52-week low of $49.45 and a 52-week high of $64.89. The company has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.36.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($1.79). The business had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.09 billion. Sunoco had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The business's revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Sunoco will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.8865 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.55 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.99%. This is an increase from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Sunoco's payout ratio is currently 80.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunoco

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in 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 valued at $117,644,000 after purchasing an additional 455,361 shares during the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 3.1% in the third quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,087,407 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $58,372,000 after buying an additional 32,239 shares during the period. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sunoco by 29.3% in the third quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 864,176 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $46,389,000 after buying an additional 195,583 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its holdings in Sunoco by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 595,057 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $30,610,000 after buying an additional 5,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Sunoco by 5,437.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 572,779 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $30,747,000 after buying an additional 562,435 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.