Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Now Covered by Capital One Financial

Research analysts at Capital One Financial assumed coverage on shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) in a research note issued to investors on Monday. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $710.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock. Capital One Financial‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 28.89% from the company’s current price.

MUSA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Murphy USA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $450.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $539.50.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Murphy USA stock opened at $550.85 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $545.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $468.45. Murphy USA has a 52-week low of $345.23 and a 52-week high of $636.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $7.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.37 by $1.91. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 91.05%. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 32.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Murphy USA

In other news, SVP Renee M. Bacon sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.44, for a total transaction of $555,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,263.52. The trade was a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,225 shares of company stock worth $27,363,392. Corporate insiders own 9.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 82.4% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy USA by 423.1% in the second 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 period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.