Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives $606.89 Consensus PT from Analysts

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $606.8889.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MUSA shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Murphy USA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $550.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $520.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Diane N. Landen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.25, for a total transaction of $1,641,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 53,841 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,487.25. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rosemary Turner sold 966 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.88, for a total value of $552,436.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 449 shares in the company, valued at $256,774.12. This trade represents a 68.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 9.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Murphy USA by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 82.5% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 73 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Murphy USA during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $515.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $572.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $525.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.28. Murphy USA has a 52-week low of $349.83 and a 52-week high of $636.04.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $11.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $1.32. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 96.01% and a net margin of 2.87%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.36 EPS. Analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 34.7 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is currently 7.92%.

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.