Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives $464.57 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $464.57.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MUSA. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday.

Murphy USA Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $499.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $509.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $464.05. Murphy USA has a twelve month low of $339.96 and a twelve month high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 24.14 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Murphy USA by 141.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter valued at approximately $69,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Murphy USA by 82.1% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.