Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Stock Price Down 4% – Here’s What Happened

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) dropped 4% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $450.00 and last traded at $454.41. Approximately 84,719 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 351,407 shares. The stock had previously closed at $473.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MUSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Murphy USA from $467.00 to $445.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp set a $500.00 price objective on Murphy USA in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $429.00.

Murphy USA Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $420.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $399.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The specialty retailer reported $7.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $0.86. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.43% and a return on equity of 75.75%. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 2,844 shares of Murphy USA 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,198,084.63. The trade was a 47.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,970 shares of company stock valued at $6,212,365. 10.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Enhancing Capital LLC lifted its position in Murphy USA by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,752 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Murphy USA by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of 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. 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.