Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) Stock Lifted to Strong-Buy by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Desjardins raised shares of Suncor Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $106.00 price target on shares of Suncor Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Suncor Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.62.

Suncor Energy Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of SU opened at $77.80 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $68.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.78. Suncor Energy has a twelve month low of $37.76 and a twelve month high of $79.65. The stock has a market cap of $90.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.19. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $13.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Suncor Energy will post 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a C$0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.86%.

Institutional Trading of Suncor Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SU. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Suncor Energy by 255.0% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 78,316 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,204,000 after purchasing an additional 56,254 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Suncor Energy by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,609,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $833,622,000 after buying an additional 411,243 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Suncor Energy by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 846,111 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,802,000 after buying an additional 50,502 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Suncor Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $351,892,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in Suncor Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 11,657,514 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $625,497,000 after buying an additional 239,208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.37% of the company’s stock.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc is an integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Its operations span the energy value chain, including the development, production, upgrading, refining, and marketing of crude oil and petroleum products.

The company is one of Canada’s major oil sands producers, with interests in mining and in situ oil sands projects. Suncor produces bitumen and synthetic crude oil and also has conventional oil and offshore production interests. Its upstream portfolio includes operated and non-operated assets in Canada.

Through its downstream operations, Suncor refines crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, and other petroleum products.