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

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) announced a dividend on Thursday, October 24th, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share by the specialty retailer on Monday, December 2nd. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th.

Murphy USA has increased its dividend by an average of 83.7% annually over the last three years. Murphy USA has a dividend payout ratio of 6.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Murphy USA to earn $27.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.6%.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MUSA stock traded up $1.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $473.33. 120,502 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 198,535. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $500.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.47. Murphy USA has a twelve month low of $350.55 and a twelve month high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.02 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 23.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MUSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $464.57.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,955,423.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

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.