Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

SUN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sunoco from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Sunoco from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Sunoco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Sunoco from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.83.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of SUN stock opened at $64.82 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.12 and a 200 day moving average of $56.15. Sunoco has a 1 year low of $47.98 and a 1 year high of $67.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56 and a beta of 0.48.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($1.55). The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.65 billion. Sunoco had a net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Sunoco will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sunoco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Sunoco during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sunoco by 496.5% in the 4th quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 853 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 110.3% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,569 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.