Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on MUSA. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Murphy USA from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $469.50.

Murphy USA Price Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $513.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $282.49 and a 1-year high of $521.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $473.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $430.22.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 64.73%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.02 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Murphy USA will post 24.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total transaction of $4,575,805.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 199,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,871,580.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 10,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.32, for a total transaction of $4,575,805.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 199,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,871,580.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald R. Smith, Jr. sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $438.75, for a total transaction of $374,692.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,818,436.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUSA. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Murphy USA by 191.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Murphy USA in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 777.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Murphy USA by 141.4% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Murphy USA by 394.7% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 94 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.