Independence Bank of Kentucky Invests $53,000 in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,022 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 96,377 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,080 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sunoco by 26.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,191,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $117,644,000 after purchasing an additional 455,361 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Sunoco by 5,437.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 572,779 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,747,000 after purchasing an additional 562,435 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sunoco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $850,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco in the 3rd quarter valued at $524,000. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment 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, Sunoco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.43.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of SUN stock opened at $56.39 on Monday. Sunoco LP has a 52-week low of $49.45 and a 52-week high of $64.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 1.36.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($1.79). Sunoco had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.72%. The company had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Sunoco’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.8865 dividend. This is an increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.55 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Sunoco’s payout ratio 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.