Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Get Rating) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Separately, Raymond James raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $215.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 19th.

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $238.08 on Wednesday. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $126.56 and a 1 year high of $262.58. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $220.09 and its 200-day moving average is $197.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $6.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $3.43. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 62.11% and a net margin of 2.61%. The company had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 94.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 16th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.50%.

In other news, SVP Terry P. Hatten sold 2,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.03, for a total value of $523,887.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.52, for a total value of $9,580,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 523,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,394,468.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,934 shares of company stock valued at $18,767,151. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in Murphy USA by 96.3% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 157 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Murphy USA by 279.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 163 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Portformulas Corp acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the third quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. 84.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy USA Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 of December 31, 2021, it operated 1,679 retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.

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