Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Price Target Increased to $460.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $440.00 to $460.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

MUSA has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $382.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $408.60.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

MUSA stock opened at $417.40 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $412.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $380.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 0.76. Murphy USA has a fifty-two week low of $267.61 and a fifty-two week high of $430.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.79 by $1.21. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 70.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.21 EPS. Analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 26.4 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is 6.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,700.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert J. Chumley sold 7,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.42, for a total value of $2,837,410.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,700.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 664 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.55, for a total transaction of $275,925.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,002,722.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,440 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,582 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth approximately $461,000. Trust Co. of Oklahoma acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $249,000. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 69,122 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $122,000. 80.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.