Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America began coverage on shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) in a note issued to investors on Friday. The firm set an “underperform” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

MUSA has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $405.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $480.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $474.00.

Murphy USA Price Performance

MUSA traded down $15.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $413.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,436. Murphy USA has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $523.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $389.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $391.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.60 by $0.65. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.11 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. Murphy USA’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total value of $1,721,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,890,325. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total transaction of $6,196,612.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,564,058.76. This represents a 21.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $17,349,722. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MUSA. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,079 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $398,000. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Murphy USA by 96.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,921 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $818,000 after buying an additional 942 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 82.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,584 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.