Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.45 Per Share

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share by the specialty retailer on Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 26th. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44.

Murphy USA has raised its dividend payment by an average of 83.7% annually over the last three years. Murphy USA has a dividend payout ratio of 6.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Murphy USA to earn $27.24 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.5%.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of MUSA traded up $7.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $511.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 120,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 209,710. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $307.45 and a 1 year high of $521.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $485.38 and a 200 day moving average of $438.23. The company has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 24.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $438.75, for a total value of $374,692.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,818,436.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total transaction of $4,575,805.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,871,580.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 854 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $438.75, for a total value of $374,692.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,099 shares in the company, valued at $8,818,436.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,455 shares of company stock valued at $20,492,084. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $469.50.

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.