Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP Sells 2,000 Shares of Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN)

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP cut its stake in Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s holdings in Sunoco were worth $851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SUN. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Sunoco by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 31,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after buying an additional 6,338 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Sunoco by 2.4% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 22,129 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Sunoco by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 71,705 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its position in Sunoco by 138.3% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 172,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,434,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sunoco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $368,000. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sunoco Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE SUN traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.30. 107,493 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 515,084. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.50. Sunoco LP has a twelve month low of $41.95 and a twelve month high of $64.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 1.29.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported ($1.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($2.46). Sunoco had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.876 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. This is an increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio is 96.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David K. Skidmore acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.10 per share, for a total transaction of $78,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $761,076.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SUN shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sunoco from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Citigroup downgraded Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Sunoco from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Sunoco from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.71.

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.