SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Benchmark restated a buy rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of SunCoke Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

SunCoke Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of SXC opened at $9.59 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 2.06. SunCoke Energy has a 1 year low of $7.51 and a 1 year high of $11.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $806.28 million, a PE ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.15.

SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The energy company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. SunCoke Energy had a net margin of 2.97% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The firm had revenue of $488.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $549.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that SunCoke Energy will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SunCoke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. SunCoke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SunCoke Energy

In other SunCoke Energy news, CTO John F. Quanci sold 4,532 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.67, for a total value of $48,356.44. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 19,922 shares in the company, valued at $212,567.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SunCoke Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of SunCoke Energy by 92.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,241,721 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $45,556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,058 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SunCoke Energy by 84.6% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 724,886 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $8,169,000 after acquiring an additional 332,197 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of SunCoke Energy by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,049,517 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $22,012,000 after acquiring an additional 272,759 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of SunCoke Energy by 15.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,034,183 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $20,647,000 after acquiring an additional 270,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of SunCoke Energy by 49.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 783,778 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $8,833,000 after acquiring an additional 259,152 shares during the last quarter. 90.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SunCoke Energy

SunCoke Energy, Inc operates as an independent producer of coke in the Americas and Brazil. The company operates through three segments: Domestic Coke, Brazil Coke, and Logistics. It offers metallurgical and thermal coal. The company also provides handling and/or mixing services to steel, coke, electric utility, coal producing, and other manufacturing based customers.