Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) Downgraded by Zacks Investment Research to “Hold”

Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday, July 19th.

According to Zacks, “Hold-rated Suncor Energy's shares have gained +9% over the last 12 months, handily outperforming the Zacks Oil & Gas – Canadian Integrated industry, which lost -12% over the same time period, as well as key rival Canadian Natural Resources. SU's last reported quarter saw production rising to a record on the back of its transactions to gain a majority stake in the massive Syncrude oil sands project. Importantly, SU's success in reducing cash costs have magnified the effects of rebound in oil prices. An attractive dividend yield and plans for share buyback are other positives in the Suncor story. However, the operational challenges and unplanned outages in its Syncrude project, may affect its cash flows adversely. As it is, extracting crude from the oil sands is a costly affair and as such, hampers profit margins. Therefore, we see limited upside for SU scrip”

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Jaffray Companies decreased their target price on shares of Suncor Energy from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. National Bank Financial started coverage on shares of Suncor Energy in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. They set an outperform rating on the stock. Scotiabank lowered shares of Suncor Energy from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, June 9th. Simmons reduced their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) raised shares of Suncor Energy from a buy rating to a conviction-buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $42.10.

Suncor Energy (NYSE SU) traded up 2.53% on Wednesday, hitting $32.46. The stock had a trading volume of 4,852,286 shares. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.89. The firm has a market cap of $53.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30 and a beta of 0.80. Suncor Energy has a 52-week low of $25.70 and a 52-week high of $33.79.

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The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2552 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This is a positive change from Suncor Energy ‘s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Suncor Energy ‘s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.87%.

Suncor Energy declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas producer to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 90.8% in the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,641 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 1,733 shares during the period. YorkBridge Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 1.0% in the first quarter. YorkBridge Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,061 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its position in Suncor Energy by 19.3% in the first quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Bronfman E.L. Rothschild L.P. increased its position in Suncor Energy by 6.0% in the first quarter. Bronfman E.L. Rothschild L.P. now owns 4,224 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. acquired a new position in Suncor Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $152,000. 65.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Suncor Energy Company Profile

Suncor Energy Inc (Suncor) is an integrated energy company. The Company is focused on developing Canada’s petroleum resource basin, Athabasca oil sands. The Company operates in three business segments: Oil Sands, Exploration and Production (E&P), and Refining and Marketing. The Company’s Oil Sands segment includes Oil Sands operations and Oil Sands ventures operations.

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