Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Price Target to $445.00

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) had its price target lowered by Royal Bank Of Canada from $467.00 to $445.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target indicates a potential upside of 11.88% from the company’s current price.

MUSA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Murphy USA from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $463.33.

Murphy USA Trading Down 10.6%

NYSE:MUSA traded down $47.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $397.76. The company had a trading volume of 457,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,054. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.81. Murphy USA has a fifty-two week low of $345.23 and a fifty-two week high of $523.09. The firm has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $414.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $393.68.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 69.87%. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Murphy USA will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.00, for a total value of $1,721,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 117,389 shares in the company, valued at $49,890,325. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 16,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.33, for a total transaction of $6,196,612.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,564,058.76. This trade represents a 21.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $17,349,722. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Murphy USA by 82.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the third quarter worth about $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 317.6% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 71 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Murphy USA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Murphy USA

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.