Custom Index Systems LLC Sells 11,125 Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Custom Index Systems LLC reduced its stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 52.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,130 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 11,125 shares during the quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at about $569,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in Sunoco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $542,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Sunoco by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,940 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in Sunoco by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,255 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.43.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of SUN opened at $56.39 on Friday. Sunoco LP has a 52-week low of $49.45 and a 52-week high of $64.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 1.36.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($1.79). The firm had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.09 billion. Sunoco had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 2.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.8865 per share. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Sunoco’s payout ratio is 80.46%.

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.