Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Short Interest Up 68.2% in January

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,640,000 shares, a growth of 68.2% from the January 15th total of 1,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 499,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SUN. Barclays upped their target price on Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Sunoco by 5,437.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 572,779 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $30,747,000 after buying an additional 562,435 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Sunoco by 26.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,191,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $117,644,000 after purchasing an additional 455,361 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Sunoco by 908,833.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 436,288 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,419,000 after purchasing an additional 436,240 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of Sunoco by 223.7% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 513,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,426,000 after buying an additional 355,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco during the 4th quarter worth $17,739,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Stock Performance

NYSE SUN opened at $56.35 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 1.36. Sunoco has a 1-year low of $49.45 and a 1-year high of $64.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.42.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.73). Sunoco had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.72%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sunoco will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.8865 dividend. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.46%.

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.