Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 19,196,977 shares, an increase of 202.3% from the January 29th total of 6,349,777 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,944,954 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,944,954 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Suncor Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Suncor Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,720,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,473,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,405 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 0.4% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 33,868,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,417,029,000 after buying an additional 145,800 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 27,471,954 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,148,602,000 after buying an additional 70,300 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 21,050,387 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $934,312,000 after buying an additional 2,592,516 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Suncor Energy by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,911,602 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $779,788,000 after acquiring an additional 641,354 shares in the last quarter. 67.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on SU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $46.15 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Suncor Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Suncor Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.00.

Suncor Energy Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE:SU traded up $1.00 on Friday, hitting $56.50. 2,979,479 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,176,021. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.46 and a 200-day moving average of $44.73. The stock has a market cap of $67.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Suncor Energy has a fifty-two week low of $30.79 and a fifty-two week high of $57.13.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.79 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 11.99%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.57%.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company’s operations span the full oil and gas value chain, with principal activities in oil sands development and production, conventional exploration and production, refining, distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products. Suncor supplies crude, synthetic crude and refined fuels as well as related products and services to commercial and consumer markets.

Upstream, Suncor is a major developer and operator of oil sands projects in Alberta, using both mining and in situ technologies to produce bitumen and synthetic crude.