Advisors Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,705 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,543 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $2,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Castleark Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sunoco by 332.1% in the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 31,930 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,925,000 after acquiring an additional 24,540 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 562,435 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sunoco by 40.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 52,064 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after purchasing an additional 15,087 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Sunoco during the 2nd quarter worth $1,222,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Sunoco during the 2nd quarter worth $889,000. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. StockNews.com cut Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sunoco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.25.

Sunoco Stock Up 0.6 %

SUN stock opened at $54.33 on Friday. Sunoco LP has a one year low of $49.45 and a one year high of $64.89. The firm has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($1.79). The business had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.09 billion. Sunoco had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 19.77%. Sunoco’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sunoco LP will post 7.16 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.8756 per share. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.46%.

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.