SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of SunCoke Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

SunCoke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SXC opened at $9.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $824.31 million, a P/E ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. SunCoke Energy has a 1-year low of $7.65 and a 1-year high of $11.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.14 and its 200-day moving average is $10.55.

SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The energy company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $488.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $549.40 million. SunCoke Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 2.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that SunCoke Energy will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

SunCoke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. SunCoke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO John F. Quanci sold 4,532 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.67, for a total transaction of $48,356.44. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 19,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $212,567.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SunCoke Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SXC. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of SunCoke Energy by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,034,183 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $20,647,000 after purchasing an additional 270,467 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of SunCoke Energy by 241.3% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 229,527 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 162,285 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SunCoke Energy by 67.5% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 199,360 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 80,358 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of SunCoke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $578,000. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SunCoke Energy by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 39,334 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 8,820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.45% of the company’s stock.

About SunCoke Energy

SunCoke Energy, Inc operates as an independent producer of coke in the Americas and Brazil. The company operates through three segments: Domestic Coke, Brazil Coke, and Logistics. It offers metallurgical and thermal coal. The company also provides handling and/or mixing services to steel, coke, electric utility, coal producing, and other manufacturing based customers.