Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Decreases Holdings in Sunoco LP $SUN

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC reduced its stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 106,281 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 14,317 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $7,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SUN. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Sunoco by 6.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 159,128 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,239,000 after purchasing an additional 9,592 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 10.9% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 12,174 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sunoco by 226.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,088 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 4,915 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 365,953 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,611,000 after buying an additional 18,990 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 37,488 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after buying an additional 2,810 shares during the period. 24.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sunoco Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of SUN opened at $74.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 0.41. Sunoco LP has a one year low of $47.98 and a one year high of $78.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.42.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($1.56). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The business had revenue of $14.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. Sunoco’s revenue for the quarter was up 164.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sunoco LP will post 9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $1.0023 dividend. This represents a $4.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. This is a boost from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Sunoco’s payout ratio is presently 88.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SUN. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sunoco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Mizuho set a $83.00 target price on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sunoco from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.00.

Sunoco Profile

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.