Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on SPH. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Suburban Propane Partners from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Suburban Propane Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Suburban Propane Partners currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

Suburban Propane Partners Stock Up 0.4%

SPH stock opened at $18.68 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.35. Suburban Propane Partners has a 12 month low of $16.53 and a 12 month high of $20.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.42.

Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The energy company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $551.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $575.00 million. Suburban Propane Partners had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 19.45%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Suburban Propane Partners will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Suburban Propane Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. Suburban Propane Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SageGuard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Suburban Propane Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $1,087,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Suburban Propane Partners by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 466,798 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $8,654,000 after buying an additional 113,396 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Suburban Propane Partners by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 15,051,196 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $279,049,000 after buying an additional 724,170 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Suburban Propane Partners during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Suburban Propane Partners by 25.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 72,757 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after buying an additional 14,908 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 30.94% of the company’s stock.

Suburban Propane Partners Company Profile

Suburban Propane Partners L.P. (NYSE: SPH) is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered in Whippany, New Jersey, that provides propane and related energy services to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers. As one of the largest propane retailers in the United States, the company delivers propane gas, heating oil, diesel fuel and natural gas throughout its service territories. In addition to fuel distribution, Suburban Propane offers HVAC installation, maintenance and repair services, as well as safety inspections and equipment leasing to support customers’ energy needs.

The company’s core business centers on the delivery of propane for space and water heating, cooking and agricultural applications.