Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Now Covered by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $539.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MUSA. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, KeyCorp set a $500.00 price objective on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $447.33.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of MUSA opened at $493.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.40. Murphy USA has a 1 year low of $345.23 and a 1 year high of $523.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $423.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $401.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.88 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 75.75% and a net margin of 2.43%.Murphy USA’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.38%.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 2,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.61, for a total value of $1,105,206.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,198,084.63. This represents a 47.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total transaction of $1,721,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,890,325. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,970 shares of company stock valued at $6,212,365. 9.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Murphy USA by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Murphy USA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 317.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 423.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

Murphy USA is a leading downstream marketer of gasoline, diesel and convenience store products in the United States. Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas, the company was originally established as part of Murphy Oil Corporation and was spun off as an independent public entity in 2013. Since its separation, Murphy USA has focused on retail fueling services and convenience offerings designed to deliver value and convenience to consumers.

The company’s primary operations center on two retail formats.