Brookstone Capital Management Acquires 671 Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,684 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 671 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Solution Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at about $207,000. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on SUN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Sunoco in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Sunoco Price Performance

Sunoco stock opened at $56.54 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 1.29. Sunoco LP has a 1 year low of $43.10 and a 1 year high of $64.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.99 and a 200-day moving average of $57.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The oil and gas company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Sunoco had a return on equity of 35.56% and a net margin of 2.08%. The business had revenue of $5.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.13 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sunoco LP will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.876 per share. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Sunoco’s payout ratio is 77.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Sunoco news, EVP Brian A. Hand acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $49.59 per share, for a total transaction of $99,180.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 153,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,915.45. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian A. Hand bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $49.59 per share, for a total transaction of $99,180.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 153,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,915.45. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Austin Harkness bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $49.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,740.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,162,541.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 9,500 shares of company stock worth $479,570 in the last 90 days.

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.