Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

SUN has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sunoco from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Sunoco from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sunoco from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.71.

Sunoco Stock Down 2.1 %

SUN stock traded down $1.17 during trading on Thursday, reaching $55.86. The stock had a trading volume of 745,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,496. Sunoco has a one year low of $41.95 and a one year high of $64.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 1.29.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported ($1.50) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($2.46). The business had revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Sunoco had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 37.91%. The business’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Sunoco will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sunoco

In other Sunoco news, Director David K. Skidmore purchased 1,500 shares of Sunoco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $52.10 per share, for a total transaction of $78,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $761,076.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunoco

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Sunoco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. CNB Bank purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunoco during the first quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sunoco Company 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.