Virtu Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 4,648 Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 4,648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Sunoco by 18.4% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,213 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco during the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 222,876 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,964,000 after buying an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 27,500 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,476,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco in the 3rd quarter worth $524,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Sunoco stock opened at $59.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 1.35. Sunoco LP has a one year low of $49.45 and a one year high of $60.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $57.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.73). Sunoco had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 3.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.8865 dividend. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SUN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Sunoco from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sunoco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.50.

Sunoco Profile

Sunoco LP, together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails motor fuels in the United States. It operates through two segments: Fuel Distribution and Marketing, and All Other. The Fuel Distribution and Marketing segment purchases motor fuel, as well as other petroleum products, such as propane and lubricating oil from independent refiners and oil companies and supplies it to company-operated retail stores, independently operated commission agents, and retail stores, as well as other commercial customers, including unbranded retail stores, other fuel distributors, school districts, municipalities, and other industrial customers.