Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.88

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 3rd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.876 per share by the oil and gas company on Monday, May 20th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84.

Sunoco has increased its dividend by an average of 0.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Sunoco has a dividend payout ratio of 49.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Sunoco to earn $4.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.37 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 75.4%.

Sunoco Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE SUN opened at $56.86 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.59 and a 200-day moving average of $57.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Sunoco has a 12 month low of $41.95 and a 12 month high of $64.89. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David K. Skidmore bought 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.10 per share, for a total transaction of $78,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,608 shares in the company, valued at $761,076.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sunoco from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Sunoco from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sunoco from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.71.

Sunoco Company Profile

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.