Wall Street Zen Upgrades Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) to “Buy”

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised Sunoco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sunoco from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Sunoco to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Sunoco from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sunoco has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $74.38.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of SUN stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $68.75. 323,136 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 357,074. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.10. Sunoco has a 1-year low of $47.98 and a 1-year high of $72.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 0.42.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $1.14. The business had revenue of $10.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. Sunoco had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 3.07%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 106.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sunoco will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunoco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,827 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sunoco by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,720 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sunoco by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Glenmede Investment Management LP grew its position in Sunoco by 0.7% in the third quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 39,088 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Sunoco by 3.4% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,886 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Company Profile

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company‐owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco’s product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on‐road diesel treated to meet ultra‐low sulfur requirements.