M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Acquires New Stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,545 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SUN. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Sunoco by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,185 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Sunoco during the 2nd quarter worth $889,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Sunoco by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 7,741 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Sunoco during the 2nd quarter worth $279,000. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Price Performance

Sunoco stock opened at $54.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 1.36. Sunoco LP has a one year low of $49.45 and a one year high of $64.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.41.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($1.79). The business had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.09 billion. Sunoco had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.8756 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.43%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.43.

Sunoco Company 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.