Investors Purchase High Volume of Suncor Energy Put Options (NYSE:SU)

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 28,315 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,998% compared to the typical volume of 914 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Suncor Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $46.15 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Suncor Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Suncor Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SU. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,047 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Suncor Energy by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 5,742 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL grew its holdings in Suncor Energy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 22,741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 28,748 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Suncor Energy by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 635 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 67.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:SU opened at $55.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.66 and a 200 day moving average of $43.94. Suncor Energy has a 52 week low of $30.79 and a 52 week high of $56.46.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.79 billion. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Suncor Energy will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Suncor Energy’s payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

About Suncor Energy

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.