Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 33,396 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Sunoco during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Sunoco during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. CNB Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Stock Down 1.5 %

SUN stock opened at $52.70 on Monday. Sunoco LP has a fifty-two week low of $46.36 and a fifty-two week high of $64.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.27. 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 $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.8756 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.65%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SUN. Mizuho raised 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 note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sunoco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.