Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.48

by · The Markets Daily

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA – Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share by the specialty retailer on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.

Murphy USA has raised its dividend payment by an average of 83.7% per year over the last three years. Murphy USA has a dividend payout ratio of 7.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Murphy USA to earn $27.14 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 7.1%.

Murphy USA Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $484.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $496.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.61. Murphy USA has a 12-month low of $350.55 and a 12-month high of $552.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 0.75.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.69 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 23.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 in the last quarter. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MUSA. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $495.33.

View Our Latest Research Report on MUSA

About Murphy USA

(Get Free Report)

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.

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