Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. 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 note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.1 %

MUSA stock opened at $480.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. Murphy USA has a fifty-two week low of $350.55 and a fifty-two week high of $552.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $502.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 24.14 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 14.5% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 855 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 4.5% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,899 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $796,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 689 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the first quarter worth approximately $324,000. Finally, West Coast Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.9% in the first quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 13,941 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,844,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.