StockNews.com Downgrades Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Separately, Argus increased their price target on Suburban Propane Partners from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 10th.

Suburban Propane Partners Price Performance

NYSE SPH opened at $18.69 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $19.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Suburban Propane Partners has a 1-year low of $14.42 and a 1-year high of $22.33.

Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The energy company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $498.09 million for the quarter. Suburban Propane Partners had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 8.02%.

Suburban Propane Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. Suburban Propane Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Harold R. Logan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.18, for a total value of $57,540.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $757,897.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Suburban Propane Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Suburban Propane Partners by 428.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 390,200 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,930,000 after buying an additional 316,430 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. increased its stake in Suburban Propane Partners by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 338,281 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,911,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Suburban Propane Partners by 11.9% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 210,111 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,293,000 after purchasing an additional 22,368 shares in the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Suburban Propane Partners by 1,090.4% during the fourth quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 207,425 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 190,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new position in shares of Suburban Propane Partners during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,679,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.94% of the company’s stock.

Suburban Propane Partners Company Profile

Suburban Propane Partners, L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the retail marketing and distribution of propane, renewable propane, fuel oil, and refined fuels in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Propane, Fuel Oil and Refined Fuels, Natural Gas and Electricity, and All Other.