Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $495.33.

Several research firms recently commented on MUSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 777.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Murphy USA by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 942.9% during the third quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Trading Up 1.5 %

Murphy USA stock opened at $530.02 on Wednesday. Murphy USA has a one year low of $350.55 and a one year high of $552.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $496.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $480.46. The company has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.56. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.73% and a net margin of 2.48%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 23.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

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.