Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $525.67.

Several research firms have weighed in on MUSA. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $555.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Melius assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Murphy USA from $550.00 to $554.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Melius Research raised Murphy USA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeanne Linder Phillips sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.31, for a total value of $360,491.07. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,476.19. The trade was a 25.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Renee M. Bacon sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.58, for a total transaction of $939,160.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,783,200.66. This represents a 25.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,594 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,043 over the last quarter. Insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy USA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Murphy USA by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,864,405 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $935,465,000 after buying an additional 54,658 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,783,849 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $895,046,000 after acquiring an additional 32,643 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Murphy USA by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 590,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $291,068,000 after purchasing an additional 8,507 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Murphy USA by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 470,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $236,125,000 after purchasing an additional 18,097 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Murphy USA by 69.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 428,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $211,135,000 after purchasing an additional 176,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy USA stock opened at $440.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 0.80. Murphy USA has a 12 month low of $382.04 and a 12 month high of $561.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $478.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $499.33.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The specialty retailer reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.46 by $0.50. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 61.60% and a net margin of 2.48%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Murphy USA will post 26.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. This is an increase from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.10%.

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.