Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 1,952,444 Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. $SU

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) by 63.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,028,399 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,952,444 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Suncor Energy were worth $210,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SU. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Suncor Energy by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Suncor Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 143.5% during the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 789 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Suncor Energy by 95.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 793 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corsicana & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Suncor Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.37% of the company’s stock.

Suncor Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SU opened at $59.66 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.28 and its 200-day moving average is $46.08. Suncor Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.79 and a 12-month high of $60.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $70.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 0.43.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Suncor Energy Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Suncor Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SU. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $46.15 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Suncor Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Suncor Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.67.

Suncor Energy Profile

Suncor Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company’s operations span the full oil and gas value chain, with principal activities in oil sands development and production, conventional exploration and production, refining, distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products. Suncor supplies crude, synthetic crude and refined fuels as well as related products and services to commercial and consumer markets.

Upstream, Suncor is a major developer and operator of oil sands projects in Alberta, using both mining and in situ technologies to produce bitumen and synthetic crude.