Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Short Interest Update

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,240,000 shares, a decline of 19.5% from the May 31st total of 1,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 666,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sunoco

In other news, Director David K. Skidmore bought 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.10 per share, for a total transaction of $78,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $761,076.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Austin Harkness acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $49.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,740.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 83,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,162,541.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David K. Skidmore acquired 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.10 per share, for a total transaction of $78,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $761,076.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 9,500 shares of company stock worth $479,570 over the last ninety days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sunoco during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. CNB Bank purchased a new stake in Sunoco during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Sunoco by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sunoco during the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Sunoco in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Barclays started coverage on Sunoco in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sunoco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SUN opened at $56.60 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.56. Sunoco has a twelve month low of $43.10 and a twelve month high of $64.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.29.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The oil and gas company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Sunoco had a return on equity of 35.56% and a net margin of 2.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.13 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sunoco will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.876 dividend. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.95%.

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.