Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $476.2857.

MUSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, Director Robert Madison Murphy purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $367.01 per share, for a total transaction of $1,835,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 389,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. This represents a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Murphy USA by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Vista Finance LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,101,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Fortune Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Murphy USA by 1.6% during the second quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,821 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. 80.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA opened at $391.45 on Tuesday. Murphy USA has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The company has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $397.90 and its 200 day moving average is $435.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.54. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.52% and a return on equity of 64.63%. The company had revenue of $5.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

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.