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

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 25th, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.43%.

Sunoco has raised its dividend payment 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. Equities 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 Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SUN opened at $54.51 on Friday. Sunoco has a 1 year low of $43.85 and a 1 year high of $64.89. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The oil and gas company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Sunoco had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 35.56%. The company had revenue of $5.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.13 billion. Analysts forecast that Sunoco will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Mizuho raised Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup upgraded Sunoco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Sunoco in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sunoco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sunoco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Joseph Kim acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were bought 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 owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Austin Harkness bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $49.74 per share, for a total transaction of $49,740.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,162,541.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph Kim purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $50.50 per share, with a total value of $252,500.00. Following the completion of 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. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 8,000 shares of company stock worth $401,420.

About Sunoco

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.