Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Buys New Position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 18,935 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SUN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Sunoco by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,904,735 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,081,000 after acquiring an additional 275,875 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 2,387,608 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $143,089,000 after buying an additional 876,452 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its position in Sunoco by 26,345.6% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 1,351,368 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $76,406,000 after buying an additional 1,346,258 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its position in Sunoco by 33.4% during the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 583,323 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,981,000 after buying an additional 146,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adams Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sunoco by 82.3% during the second quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 571,538 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,315,000 after acquiring an additional 258,103 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of SUN stock opened at $53.13 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.30. Sunoco LP has a 12-month low of $46.55 and a 12-month high of $64.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.93.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $2.62. Sunoco had a net margin of 3.80% and a return on equity of 41.76%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Sunoco’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.8756 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is 77.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SUN shares. Citigroup raised Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Mizuho raised shares of Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.14.

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.