Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) Short Interest Up 76.6% in August

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) saw a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 23,419,730 shares, a growth of 76.6% from the July 30th total of 13,262,277 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,833,816 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Suncor Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research lowered Suncor Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Desjardins upgraded Suncor Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $106.00 price objective on Suncor Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Suncor Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.25.

Suncor Energy Price Performance

Shares of Suncor Energy stock opened at $65.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.65. Suncor Energy has a 52-week low of $37.76 and a 52-week high of $70.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.93 and a 200-day moving average of $62.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.29.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $13.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.68 billion. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Suncor Energy will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Suncor Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Suncor Energy by 36.3% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,695,160 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,236,000 after acquiring an additional 451,110 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its holdings in Suncor Energy by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 360,668 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $16,008,000 after purchasing an additional 30,210 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,609,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $833,622,000 after purchasing an additional 411,243 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 6.3% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 846,111 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $55,802,000 after buying an additional 50,502 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 217.4% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 826,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,754,000 after buying an additional 566,195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.37% of the company’s stock.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company’s operations span the full oil and gas value chain, with principal activities in oil sands development and production, conventional exploration and production, refining, distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products. Suncor supplies crude, synthetic crude and refined fuels as well as related products and services to commercial and consumer markets.

Upstream, Suncor is a major developer and operator of oil sands projects in Alberta, using both mining and in situ technologies to produce bitumen and synthetic crude.