Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Short Interest Down 17.6% in February

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) was the target of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, a drop of 17.6% from the February 13th total of 2,390,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 503,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SUN shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Sunoco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.67.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Sunoco by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,245 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Sunoco by 1.8% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,637 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Sunoco by 0.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 25,251 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sunoco by 5.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sunoco by 2.6% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,627 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Trading Down 0.2 %

Sunoco stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $58.56. The company had a trading volume of 186,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 489,196. The firm has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.27. Sunoco has a 1 year low of $49.45 and a 1 year high of $62.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.17.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sunoco will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.8865 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Sunoco’s dividend 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.