USA Compression Partners LP Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.53 (NYSE:USAC)

USA Compression Partners LP (NYSE:USAC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 11th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.525 per share by the oil and gas company on Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th.

USA Compression Partners has a dividend payout ratio of 247.1% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect USA Compression Partners to earn $0.86 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $2.10 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 244.2%.

USA Compression Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:USAC opened at $25.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.43 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.15. USA Compression Partners has a 52-week low of $18.48 and a 52-week high of $28.47.

USA Compression Partners (NYSE:USAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The oil and gas company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.02). USA Compression Partners had a negative return on equity of 31.81% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business had revenue of $225.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $221.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that USA Compression Partners will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on USAC. Mizuho upped their price target on USA Compression Partners from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut USA Compression Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Insider Activity at USA Compression Partners

In related news, major shareholder Veteran Equity Aggregator Eig sold 1,681,689 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $42,210,393.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Eric D. Long sold 34,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.54, for a total value of $855,611.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 469,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,509,726.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Veteran Equity Aggregator Eig sold 1,681,689 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $42,210,393.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,755,566 shares of company stock valued at $194,685,337.

Institutional Trading of USA Compression Partners

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new stake in USA Compression Partners in the fourth quarter worth $20,241,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of USA Compression Partners by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 224,054 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,376,000 after buying an additional 123,437 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its holdings in shares of USA Compression Partners by 36,517.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 107,290 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after buying an additional 106,997 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of USA Compression Partners by 38.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 329,466 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,962,000 after buying an additional 90,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of USA Compression Partners by 167.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 119,686 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 75,016 shares during the last quarter. 47.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About USA Compression Partners

USA Compression Partners, LP provides compression services under term contracts with customers in the natural gas and crude oil industries in the United States. The company engineers, designs, operates, services, and repairs its compression units; and maintains related support inventory and equipment.