Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.63

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.63 per share by the specialty retailer on Thursday, March 5th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd.

Murphy USA has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.5%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Murphy USA has a dividend payout ratio of 9.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Murphy USA to earn $28.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.8%.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE MUSA opened at $383.65 on Friday. Murphy USA has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $523.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $413.22 and a 200-day moving average of $391.91. The company has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. Murphy USA’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $457.50.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.