Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Increases Dividend to $0.49 Per Share

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Murphy USA has increased its dividend by an average of 19.8% annually over the last three years. Murphy USA has a payout ratio of 6.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $491.93 on Friday. Murphy USA has a 52 week low of $382.04 and a 52 week 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $504.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $506.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33 and a beta of 0.79.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 26.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.80.

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.