Murphy USA Inc. (MUSA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.49 on March 5th

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of 0.49 per share by the specialty retailer on Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Murphy USA has raised its dividend by an average of 19.8% per year over the last three years. Murphy USA has a payout ratio of 6.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Murphy USA to earn $28.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.6%.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE MUSA opened at $485.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $502.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $506.35. Murphy USA has a twelve month low of $382.04 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 26.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $510.80.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total transaction of $395,391.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 9.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.