JPMorgan Chase & Co. Begins Coverage on Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA)

Stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $539.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.57% from the company’s previous close.

MUSA has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Murphy USA from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Friday, January 9th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three 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.com, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $447.33.

Murphy USA Trading Up 2.1%

MUSA opened at $505.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $424.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $402.44. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $345.23 and a 1-year high of $523.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In related news, CEO Malynda K. West sold 4,051 shares of the company’s 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 completion of 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 1,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.19, for a total value of $456,444.45. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,543 shares in the company, valued at $609,778.17. This represents a 42.81% 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. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 507,418 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,753,000 after acquiring an additional 304,354 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Murphy USA by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 506,214 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,267,000 after purchasing an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 318.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 424,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $164,940,000 after purchasing an additional 323,331 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Murphy USA by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 318,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $128,511,000 after purchasing an additional 99,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Murphy USA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 300,758 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $121,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

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.