Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Suburban Propane Partners from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Suburban Propane Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Suburban Propane Partners has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Suburban Propane Partners Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of SPH stock opened at $18.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.35. Suburban Propane Partners has a fifty-two week low of $16.53 and a fifty-two week high of $20.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The energy company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.32. Suburban Propane Partners had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 9.57%.The firm had revenue of $551.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $575.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Suburban Propane Partners will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Suburban Propane Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Suburban Propane Partners by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 15,051,196 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $279,049,000 after purchasing an additional 724,170 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Suburban Propane Partners by 4.8% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,177,601 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $77,912,000 after buying an additional 192,154 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Suburban Propane Partners by 11.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,370,534 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $28,795,000 after buying an additional 142,547 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Suburban Propane Partners by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,314,268 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $24,367,000 after buying an additional 61,818 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Suburban Propane Partners by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 466,798 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $8,654,000 after buying an additional 113,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.94% of the company’s stock.

About Suburban Propane Partners

Suburban Propane Partners L.P. (NYSE: SPH) is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered in Whippany, New Jersey, that provides propane and related energy services to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers. As one of the largest propane retailers in the United States, the company delivers propane gas, heating oil, diesel fuel and natural gas throughout its service territories. In addition to fuel distribution, Suburban Propane offers HVAC installation, maintenance and repair services, as well as safety inspections and equipment leasing to support customers’ energy needs.

The company’s core business centers on the delivery of propane for space and water heating, cooking and agricultural applications.