Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Raises Dividend to $0.88 Per Share

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) declared 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 6.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84.

Sunoco has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Sunoco has a 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SUN traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.91. The stock had a trading volume of 613,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,122. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.35. Sunoco has a 1 year low of $41.95 and a 1 year high of $64.89. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.66.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sunoco news, Director David K. Skidmore acquired 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.10 per share, with a total value of $78,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $761,076.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SUN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $62.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sunoco from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sunoco from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Sunoco from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sunoco from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sunoco presently 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.