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

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 25th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of 0.8756 per share by the oil and gas company on Monday, August 19th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th.

Sunoco has raised its dividend by an average of 0.5% per year over the last three years. Sunoco has a dividend payout ratio of 58.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Sunoco to earn $7.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.2%.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of SUN stock opened at $53.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.65. Sunoco has a fifty-two week low of $43.85 and a fifty-two week high of $64.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.31.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $2.62. Sunoco had a return on equity of 35.56% and a net margin of 2.08%. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sunoco will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Sunoco news, CEO Joseph Kim bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $50.50 per share, for a total transaction of $252,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $505,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Brian A. Hand purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $49.59 per share, with a total value of $99,180.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 153,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,915.45. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joseph Kim acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $50.50 per share, with a total value of $252,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $505,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 8,000 shares of company stock worth $401,420.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SUN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Sunoco in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $60.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays lowered their target price on Sunoco from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.86.

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.