Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) Stock Now Rated “Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $81.71.

Several brokerages have commented on SU. Zacks Research raised Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $106.00 target price on Suncor Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Desjardins raised shares of Suncor Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Suncor Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 4.4% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,762 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,882 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Suncor Energy by 129.6% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,898,202 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $128,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,359 shares during the period. Acorn Creek Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Suncor Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Suncor Energy in the third quarter worth about $86,000. 67.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE SU opened at $68.74 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.61 and its 200-day moving average is $63.85. The stock has a market cap of $80.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Suncor Energy has a twelve month low of $42.03 and a twelve month high of $80.25.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $13.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.85 billion. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Suncor Energy will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Suncor Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of C$0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Suncor Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of C$0.60. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.44%.

Suncor Energy Company Profile

Suncor Energy Inc is an integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Its operations span the energy value chain, from producing and processing crude oil to refining, marketing and distributing fuel products.

The company’s upstream business includes oil sands development and upgrading in Alberta, as well as conventional and offshore oil and gas production. Its refining and marketing operations serve customers in Canada and the United States, selling products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel under brands including Petro-Canada.

Suncor traces its roots to Great Canadian Oil Sands, which began commercial oil sands production in Alberta in 1967.