Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Holdings in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,901 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,764 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Sunoco were worth $1,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SUN. CNB Bank purchased a new position in Sunoco during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in Sunoco during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sunoco during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Sunoco during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sunoco during the first quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SUN has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Sunoco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.14.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SUN opened at $53.74 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.30. Sunoco LP has a 1 year low of $49.00 and a 1 year high of $64.89.

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

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.8756 dividend. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.30%.

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.