Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of C$0.66 on December 24th

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of C$0.66 per share by the oil and gas producer on Thursday, December 24th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. This is a 10.0% increase from Suncor Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of C$0.60.

Suncor Energy has raised its dividend by an average of 0.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Suncor Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 57.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Suncor Energy to earn $7.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.73 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.8%.

Suncor Energy Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of NYSE:SU opened at $72.22 on Thursday. Suncor Energy has a 52-week low of $40.49 and a 52-week high of $80.25. The stock has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.49 and its 200 day moving average is $63.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) (TSE:SU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $13.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.85 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 17.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Suncor Energy will post 8.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SU shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Suncor Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Suncor Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Desjardins upgraded Suncor Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Suncor Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.71.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc is an integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Its operations span the energy value chain, including the development, production, upgrading, refining, and marketing of crude oil and petroleum products.

The company is one of Canada’s major oil sands producers, with interests in mining and in situ oil sands projects. Suncor produces bitumen and synthetic crude oil and also has conventional oil and offshore production interests. Its upstream portfolio includes operated and non-operated assets in Canada.

Through its downstream operations, Suncor refines crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, and other petroleum products.