Hennessy Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Sunoco LP $SUN

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 145,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 9,400 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $7,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SUN. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter valued at $100,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the second quarter valued at $111,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sunoco in the third quarter valued at $120,000. 24.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Stock Up 0.1%

Sunoco stock opened at $63.13 on Monday. Sunoco LP has a 1-year low of $47.98 and a 1-year high of $67.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.41.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($1.55). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 63.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.9317 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is 164.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SUN has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Sunoco from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays set a $63.00 price objective on Sunoco in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Sunoco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sunoco from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.83.

Sunoco Company 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.