Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) Raises Dividend to $0.99 Per Share

Key Points

• Dividend raise: Sunoco LP increased its quarterly dividend to $0.9899 per share (a 6.2% boost from $0.93), payable May 20 to shareholders of record May 8, implying about a 6.1% yield.
• Dividend coverage looks reasonable: the payout ratio is currently 66%, but analysts project $9.70 EPS next year, which would lower the implied future payout ratio to roughly 38.4%, suggesting the payment is sustainable if forecasts hold.
• Investor caution: Sunoco posted a sizable earnings miss last quarter (EPS $0.09 vs. $1.64 expected) despite 63% YoY revenue growth, and the stock trades at a P/E of about 28.5 with a market cap near $13.3 billion.

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.9899 per share by the oil and gas company on Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This is a 6.2% increase from Sunoco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93.

Sunoco has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Sunoco has a dividend payout ratio of 66.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sunoco to earn $9.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.4%.

Sunoco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SUN opened at $64.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. Sunoco has a 12 month low of $47.98 and a 12 month high of $67.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.61. The stock has a market cap of $13.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52 and a beta of 0.48.

Sunoco (NYSE:SUN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($1.55). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 63.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Sunoco will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sunoco

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 3rd quarter worth $644,000. Lee Financial Co increased its holdings in Sunoco by 573.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 25,705 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 21,886 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Sunoco in the 3rd quarter worth $1,161,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Sunoco by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 593,970 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $29,704,000 after acquiring an additional 149,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Sunoco by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 24,089,484 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,204,715,000 after acquiring an additional 599,655 shares in the last quarter. 24.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sunoco

Sunoco LP NYSE: SUN is an independent master limited partnership that specializes in the distribution and marketing of transportation fuels and related products. The company operates through two primary segments: wholesale fuel distribution and retail marketing. In wholesale distribution, Sunoco supplies branded fuels to distributors, commercial customers and resellers across the United States. Its retail marketing arm operates a network of company‐owned and franchised Sunoco branded service stations and convenience stores, providing gasoline, diesel, ethanol blends and lubricants to consumers.

Sunoco's product portfolio extends beyond traditional fuels to include biofuels, specialty chemicals and on‐road diesel treated to meet ultra‐low sulfur requirements.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.