Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SUN. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. CNB Bank purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SUN shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Barclays reduced 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.14.

Sunoco Price Performance

NYSE SUN opened at $52.70 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.33. Sunoco LP has a 52-week low of $46.36 and a 52-week high of $64.89. The company has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.30.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 8.09 EPS 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 paid a $0.8756 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.95%.

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.