Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.49

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. 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 dividend payout ratio of 6.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Down 1.4 %

NYSE MUSA traded down $7.06 on Monday, hitting $485.65. 220,207 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 205,765. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $502.93 and a 200 day moving average of $506.37. Murphy USA has a twelve month low of $382.04 and a twelve month high of $561.08. The company has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. As a group, analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 26.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MUSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $510.80.

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.