JPMorgan Chase & Co. Downgrades Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) to Underweight

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) was downgraded by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $435.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $415.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential downside of 12.45% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Up 0.8 %

MUSA stock opened at $496.88 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $510.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $460.80. Murphy USA has a fifty-two week low of $338.80 and a fifty-two week high of $552.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 24.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,955,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MUSA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 777.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth $69,000. 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.