Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Shares Sold by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lowered its position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 177,939 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 15,099 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.12% of Sunoco worth $9,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 15.9% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,789 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 1,613 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Sunoco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $416,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Sunoco by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 10,761 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,364 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 2.6% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,627 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SUN. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Sunoco from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price target on Sunoco from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.83.

Sunoco Stock Performance

NYSE SUN opened at $52.76 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.35. Sunoco LP has a twelve month low of $49.45 and a twelve month high of $59.67.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.73). Sunoco had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 22.52%. Equities analysts anticipate that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.8865 dividend. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. Sunoco’s payout ratio is presently 53.64%.

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.