Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) Receives $464.57 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $464.57.

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Murphy USA from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Murphy USA from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $435.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Murphy USA from $538.00 to $537.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Murphy USA from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Murphy USA Stock Performance

NYSE:MUSA opened at $499.59 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $509.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $464.05. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $339.96 and a 1-year high of $552.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 0.77.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty retailer reported $6.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.91 by $0.01. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.73% and a net margin of 2.50%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Murphy USA will post 24.14 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Murphy USA’s payout ratio is presently 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy USA

In other Murphy USA news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total transaction of $6,920,468.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 382,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director James W. Keyes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.54, for a total value of $1,023,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,242,955.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 13,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.38, for a total value of $6,920,468.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 382,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,971,533.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,209 shares of company stock valued at $16,564,666 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Murphy USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MUSA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Murphy USA by 0.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $102,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Murphy USA by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 204,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $95,940,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Murphy USA by 1.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 141,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,493,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Murphy USA by 1.2% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 127,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,305,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 14.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,543,000 after acquiring an additional 12,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Murphy USA Company Profile

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.