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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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 note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and raised their target price for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Murphy USA has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $464.57.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $499.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $339.96 and a 1 year high of $552.30. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $509.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $464.05.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 24.14 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction on 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 owns 396,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,955,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 16,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 396,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,955,423.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666. 9.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Murphy USA by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,797,000 after buying an additional 1,519 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $95,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,493,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 127,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $45,543,000 after purchasing an additional 12,336 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.