StockNews.com Upgrades Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) to Buy

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

MUSA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $483.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $507.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $466.54. Murphy USA has a 52-week low of $346.75 and a 52-week high of $552.30.

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

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.54, for a total value of $8,621,117.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at $203,955,423.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,209 shares of company stock worth $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter worth about $69,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 173 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $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.