Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Raises Position in Sunoco LP $SUN

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 18.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 816,233 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,964 shares during the quarter. Sunoco accounts for approximately 1.4% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $53,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SUN. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sunoco by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 24,856,265 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,302,717,000 after purchasing an additional 766,781 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 13.3% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,179,502 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $159,007,000 after buying an additional 374,396 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sunoco by 1.7% during the third quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,916,858 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $95,862,000 after acquiring an additional 32,866 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Sunoco by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,639,420 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,922,000 after acquiring an additional 617,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Sunoco by 266.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,626,278 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $85,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Sunoco Price Performance

NYSE SUN opened at $65.60 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.88. Sunoco LP has a 52 week low of $47.98 and a 52 week high of $72.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.43.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $10.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. Sunoco had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 106.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sunoco LP will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.9899 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is 101.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SUN. Citigroup increased their target price on Sunoco from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on Sunoco from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Sunoco in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sunoco from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Sunoco from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $74.38.

About Sunoco

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.