Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $516.65 and traded as high as $522.72. Murphy USA shares last traded at $520.1640, with a volume of 449,593 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $633.00 to $626.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $612.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.33.

Murphy USA Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $521.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $516.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The specialty retailer reported $9.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.37 by $1.22. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 92.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 35.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 8.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 1,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $515.65, for a total transaction of $752,849.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,945,702.55. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eric J. Bartko sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.60, for a total transaction of $52,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,947.20. The trade was a 28.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,526 shares of company stock valued at $1,869,005 in the last ninety days. 9.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at approximately $915,734,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $78,372,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,143,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 21,322.2% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 103,041 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $55,526,000 after purchasing an additional 102,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,320,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Murphy USA