Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $464.57.

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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.

Murphy USA Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $492.26 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $509.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $464.95. The company has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA has a fifty-two week low of $339.96 and a fifty-two week high of $552.30.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.45 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 24.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 7.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Murphy USA news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,242,955.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 in the last three months. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 777.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Murphy USA by 141.4% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $69,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 82.1% in the 2nd 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 period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.