Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Receives $65.60 Average PT from Analysts

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.60.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SUN. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sunoco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Sunoco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 price objective on Sunoco and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays set a $60.00 price objective on Sunoco and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SUN. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Sunoco in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in Sunoco in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Sunoco in the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sunoco by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Sunoco stock opened at $58.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.34. Sunoco has a 12-month low of $47.98 and a 12-month high of $60.62.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.9317 dividend. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Sunoco’s payout ratio is presently 127.30%.

About Sunoco

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company?owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco’s product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on?road diesel treated to meet ultra?low sulfur requirements.