Suncor Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SU)

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 28,315 put options on the company. This is an increase of 2,998% compared to the typical volume of 914 put options.

Suncor Energy Trading Up 2.2%

Suncor Energy stock opened at $63.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.61. Suncor Energy has a 52 week low of $30.79 and a 52 week high of $64.63. The stock has a market cap of $75.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Suncor Energy from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Suncor Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $46.15 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.67.

Institutional Trading of Suncor Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Suncor Energy by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,720,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,473,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,405 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 145,800 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in Suncor Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 27,471,954 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,148,602,000 after buying an additional 70,300 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Suncor Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 21,050,387 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $934,312,000 after buying an additional 2,592,516 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Suncor Energy by 3.2% in 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 buying an additional 641,354 shares during the last quarter. 67.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Company Profile

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.