Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) to Issue Dividend Increase – $1.01 Per Share

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $1.0148 per share by the oil and gas company on Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $4.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This is a 1.2% increase from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.0023.

Sunoco has a dividend payout ratio of 70.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sunoco to earn $10.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.7%.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SUN opened at $72.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. Sunoco has a 52 week low of $49.98 and a 52 week high of $80.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.27 and its 200-day moving average is $70.99.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($1.56). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The company had revenue of $14.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 164.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Sunoco will post 9.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sunoco from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sunoco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Sunoco from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.75.

Sunoco Company Profile

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) is a master limited partnership focused primarily on the distribution and wholesale marketing of motor fuels. The company supplies gasoline, diesel and other refined products to independent fuel retailers, commercial customers, distributors and other end users, including customers operating under the Sunoco brand.

Sunoco’s operations include fuel terminals, pipelines, transportation assets and other logistics infrastructure used to receive, store, blend and deliver petroleum products.