Short Interest in Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) Grows By 318.5%

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 43,060,000 shares, a growth of 318.5% from the January 31st total of 10,290,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.6 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Suncor Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Suncor Energy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,019,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,892,526,000 after acquiring an additional 323,714 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 24,289,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $865,885,000 after acquiring an additional 169,700 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 23,308,055 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $831,631,000 after buying an additional 209,447 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Suncor Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 19,098,225 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $680,847,000 after purchasing an additional 552,018 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Suncor Energy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 13,942,455 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $516,728,000 after buying an additional 180,533 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered Suncor Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Suncor Energy in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Suncor Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SU opened at $38.23 on Friday. Suncor Energy has a 12-month low of $33.26 and a 12-month high of $41.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.20 and a 200 day moving average of $38.65.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 11.80%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Suncor Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.399 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. Suncor Energy’s payout ratio is presently 45.22%.

Suncor Energy Company Profile

Suncor Energy Inc operates as an integrated energy company in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; and Refining and Marketing segments. The Oil Sands segment explores, develops, and produces bitumen, synthetic crude oil, and related products.