Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 2,481 Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 6,891.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,517 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,481 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 26.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,191,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $117,644,000 after acquiring an additional 455,361 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 3.1% in the third quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,087,407 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $58,372,000 after acquiring an additional 32,239 shares during the period. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 29.3% in the third quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 864,176 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $46,389,000 after acquiring an additional 195,583 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 595,057 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,610,000 after acquiring an additional 5,296 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 5,437.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 572,779 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,747,000 after acquiring an additional 562,435 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sunoco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SUN opened at $58.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Sunoco LP has a 1-year low of $49.45 and a 1-year high of $64.89. The company has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.59.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.73). Sunoco had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 22.52%. Research analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.8865 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. This is an increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Sunoco’s payout ratio is currently 53.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SUN. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sunoco from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.83.

About Sunoco

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.