StockNews.com Downgrades Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James upped their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $464.57.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $496.88 on Tuesday. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $338.80 and a 1-year high of $552.30. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $510.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $460.80.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 24.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total transaction of $8,621,117.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,560,000. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 1,359.6% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 93,326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,813,000 after acquiring an additional 86,932 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 518.9% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 74,770 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,660,000 after acquiring an additional 62,688 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Murphy USA during the 1st quarter valued at about $24,493,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,949,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

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.