Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Stock Position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 41.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 14,964 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SUN. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 26,345.6% in the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 1,351,368 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $76,406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,258 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 176.6% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 700,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,591,000 after buying an additional 447,072 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its position in shares of Sunoco by 33.4% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 583,323 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,981,000 after buying an additional 146,152 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 5,437.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 572,779 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,747,000 after buying an additional 562,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adams Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sunoco by 82.3% during the second quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 571,538 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,315,000 after acquiring an additional 258,103 shares during the last quarter. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Stock Down 1.9 %

Sunoco stock opened at $51.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.73. Sunoco LP has a 1-year low of $49.45 and a 1-year high of $64.89.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($1.79). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 24.47%. The company had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.8756 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.79%. Sunoco’s payout ratio is 80.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.25.

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.