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

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $515.1429.

MUSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $510.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Murphy USA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of MUSA stock opened at $573.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $544.29 and its 200 day moving average is $466.11. Murphy USA has a 12 month low of $345.23 and a 12 month high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.37 by $1.91. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. Murphy USA’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 32.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy USA news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total value of $1,641,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,487.25. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Scott G. Woodward sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.50, for a total transaction of $94,879.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 476 shares in the company, valued at $285,838. This represents a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. Company insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $6,874,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,775,000 after buying an additional 2,939 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $1,029,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,638 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $24,708,000 after buying an additional 3,614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the 4th quarter worth $1,134,000. 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.