Moors & Cabot Inc. Invests $698,000 in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,347 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SUN. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sunoco in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. CNB Bank bought a new stake in Sunoco in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sunoco during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Stock Down 0.5 %

SUN opened at $53.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.14 and its 200-day moving average is $55.46. Sunoco LP has a one year low of $46.36 and a one year high of $64.89.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $2.62. Sunoco had a net margin of 3.80% and a return on equity of 41.76%. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sunoco’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Sunoco LP will post 8.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.8756 per share. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on SUN shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. 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. Mizuho upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.14.

About Sunoco

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.