SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of SunCoke Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SXC) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after B. Riley Financial raised their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $11.00. B. Riley Financial currently has a neutral rating on the stock. SunCoke Energy traded as high as $11.50 and last traded at $11.4480, with a volume of 36,905 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.33.

SXC has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised SunCoke Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded SunCoke Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat.com, SunCoke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.00.

Institutional Trading of SunCoke Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SXC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SunCoke Energy by 30.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,405 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in SunCoke Energy by 20.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,437 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,422 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in SunCoke Energy by 126.3% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,259 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in SunCoke Energy by 0.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 487,204 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,922,000 after buying an additional 3,007 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in SunCoke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 90.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SunCoke Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.03 and a 200-day moving average of $8.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $912.88 million, a PE ratio of -16.55 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.03.

SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The energy company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $485.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $456.55 million. SunCoke Energy had a positive return on equity of 5.68% and a negative net margin of 2.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Research analysts forecast that SunCoke Energy, Inc. will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

SunCoke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. SunCoke Energy’s payout ratio is presently -73.85%.

SunCoke Energy Company Profile

SunCoke Energy, Inc (NYSE:SXC) is a producer of metallurgical coke, a carbon-based fuel and reducing agent used in blast-furnace steelmaking. The company converts coal into coke through high-temperature processing and captures the resulting heat to generate energy, which can support its facilities and be sold to customers.

SunCoke operates coke-making facilities and related coal-handling, storage and logistics assets, primarily serving integrated steel producers in the United States. Its operations are designed to provide customers with a consistent supply of coke while also generating electricity and recovering other byproducts from the coke-production process.

The company was separated from Sunoco and became a publicly traded company in 2011.