Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at KeyCorp

KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $550.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock.

MUSA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Melius started coverage on Murphy USA in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Melius Research raised Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stephens raised shares of Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $539.00.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $514.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $468.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $492.46. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $382.04 and a 1-year high of $561.08.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 61.60%. As a group, analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 8.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rosemary Turner sold 797 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.10, for a total value of $395,391.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total value of $939,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,783,200.66. The trade was a 25.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 over the last quarter. 9.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,385 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,207,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth about $11,529,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 69.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in Murphy USA by 622.9% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,048 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after buying an additional 3,488 shares during the last quarter. 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.