Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $1.61 EPS

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($1.61), FiscalAI reports. Sunoco had a net margin of 2.61% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.65 billion.

Sunoco Stock Performance

SUN opened at $59.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.39. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31 and a beta of 0.51. Sunoco has a 1 year low of $47.98 and a 1 year high of $60.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 2.50.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.9317 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $3.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. This is an increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.30%.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SUN. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sunoco during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Sunoco during the fourth quarter worth about $95,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Sunoco during the second quarter worth about $111,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Sunoco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $134,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 156.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SUN. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sunoco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Sunoco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sunoco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $65.00 target price on Sunoco and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sunoco has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.60.

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.