Suncor Energy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SU)

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 28,315 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,998% compared to the typical volume of 914 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Suncor Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Suncor Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $46.15 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets raised Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Suncor Energy from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Suncor Energy from $75.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Institutional Trading of Suncor Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 85.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,530,965 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $649,350,000 after acquiring an additional 7,158,953 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 7,636.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,016,483 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $267,042,000 after acquiring an additional 5,938,719 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 62.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,335,239 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $557,682,000 after acquiring an additional 5,113,280 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 21,050,387 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $934,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Suncor Energy by 5,468.8% in the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,289,219 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,609,000 after acquiring an additional 2,248,111 shares during the last quarter. 67.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Suncor Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SU opened at $66.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $78.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.35 and its 200-day moving average is $52.92. Suncor Energy has a 1-year low of $34.67 and a 1-year high of $70.29.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.45 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $10.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 12.29%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Suncor Energy will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Suncor Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Suncor Energy’s payout ratio is 46.19%.

About Suncor Energy

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.