Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $60.49 and traded as high as $67.41. Sunoco shares last traded at $66.3020, with a volume of 309,479 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SUN shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Sunoco from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Sunoco to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Sunoco in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Sunoco from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.13.

Sunoco Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $13.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $1.14. The firm had revenue of $10.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. Sunoco had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 3.07%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 106.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.9899 per share. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunoco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SUN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 266.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,626,278 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,662 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sunoco by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 24,856,265 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,302,717,000 after buying an additional 766,781 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Sunoco by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,639,420 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,922,000 after buying an additional 617,700 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sunoco by 13.3% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,179,502 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $159,007,000 after buying an additional 374,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sunoco by 51.5% during the first quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,027,877 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $66,781,000 after buying an additional 349,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Company Profile

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.